The Battle for the Presidency in the USA was between the 77-Year-old Biden and the 74-Year-old Trump. The USA citizens voted for Biden. He will be 81 when his first term expires. Should he seek a second term and win he would leave office when he is 85 years.
There is need for a study why US presidents largely come to office when their children are family men and women. The trend does not appear to be changing.
During the campaign the 74-year-old trump tried to push Biden to show some infirmity of mind in responding to issues raised but did not succeed. Instead Biden proved to be largely focused while Trump was consistently being accused of inconsistency in his messages. His record and the individual sentiments of the voters rather than his promises served as the basis of voting for or against him.
In 2008 Obama received 69.4 Million votes which was then the largest ever received by a Presidential Candidate in the US.
Now Biden has broken the record with 74.4 Million votes cast for him so far and rising. In US politics something else other than age counts. The factors that count are now left to analysts to decipher.
In another interesting development, a woman of African, Caribbean and Asian descent has also become the first woman Vice President of the United States. It is becoming increasingly clear that the future of US politics is heading towards colour blind electorate. Those who are obsessed with the colour of candidates are on the losing side. Those who are convinced that the lives of all Americans matter are gaining the upper hand.
In the Gambia, by election in Niamina West and Ker Jarga Ward has produced results that have reflected a change in the political landscape.
A GDC /UDP Coalition in Niamina West should have enabled the GDC to add more votes to the votes of its demised National Assembly member of 1400. The additional vote should have reflected the UDP input.
On the other hand, the NPP /NRP/PPP/NCP/GPDP Coalition operated in Niamina West anchored on the power of incumbency.
After the counting of the votes on the spot Yero Sowe of the GDC came up with 805 votes and NPP’s Birom Sowe received 1716 Votes. Thus, the NPP now has one National Assembly seat.
Furthermore, the results of the Kerr Jarga ward by election revealed a break in the GDC/UDP Coalition while the NPP maintained its Coalition backed by the might of incumbency. APRC also decided to contest to check its political weight. The end result is as follows:
APRC received 446 votes. GDC got 700 votes. NPP scored 1364 votes and UDP ended with 257 votes which is far short of its score in the 2018 Council elections.
FOROYAA will follow the statements of the different political parties to get a fairer opinion on how to read the current political landscape in the Gambia. It has become more complex and requires objectivity to comprehend.
