CTF Observes Elections In Gabon
Author:
Walter Robinson
1998/12/01
-- B.C. Provincial Director Applying Expertise in Africa --
OTTAWA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is proud to announce that Troy Lanigan, the CTF's British Columbia Provincial Director, is part of a Canadian Delegation that will observe the presidential elections in Gabon on December 6, 1998. Gabon is situated between Cameroon and the Congo central West Africa.
Mr. Lanigan is also the president of the Electoral Change Coalition of British Columbia (ECCO-BC) . Other members of the delegation in include ECCO-BC director Dr. Julian West and honorary director and former B.C. MLA Nick Loenen. The three from British Columbia will be joined by Professor Charlotte Lemieux of the University of Sherbrooke to make a Canadian delegation of four.
"It is an honour to be among this delegation," noted CTF Federal Director Walter Robinson. "Mr. Lanigan has been a consistent and tireless advocate of electoral change and is the CTF's in-house expert on electoral systems."
"We note with some irony however that emerging democracies like Gabon do not embrace first-past-the post as a means to elect their president. A run-off is required if one candidate does not receive a majority of votes on the first ballot. Perhaps the Gabonese should be observing our elections in Canada whereby governments are regularly 'elected' with less than 40% of the vote," added Robinson
The trip is sponsored by the US-Africa Chamber of Commerce and the European based Afro-Arab Development Fund which promotes democracy in Europe. The ECCO-BC delegation will be available for comment after returning to Canada on December 9.
Founded in October 1997 ECCO-BC is a coalition of organizations committed to: a) inform citizens about alternatives to the first past the post voting system, and b) push for a referendum that would allow citizens to give popular mandate to an alternative voting system. Current member organizations include the Green Party of BC, the Progressive Democratic Alliance, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Marxist-Leninist Party, BC Conservative Party, Reform Party of BC, Canadians for Direct Democracy and the Family Coalition Party.