Mr. Alieu Sagnia, country administrator of International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) said free and fair election is a court of popular opinion.
The Gambian representative of the US based journalists’ body made this statement on Tuesday at Sea View Hotel.
“Election is a method of selecting representatives of the people to supervise the affairs of the state,” Mr Sagnia said.
“These elected representatives reflect their individual or group (political parties) intentions in terms of political programs and philosophies.
“When elected, the representatives have the consent of the people and that consent becomes the authorization of demonstration.
 Sagnia further stated that elections are essential in any self-governing system since it is in the course of elections that the formal allocation of power occurs.
As he put its: “Elections give legitimacy to governments and democratic systems as well as encourage civic participation in democratic governance.
‘’In deeply divided societies, elections may be instruments of conflict resolution since free and fair election is a court of popular opinion.”
Mr Sagnia was delivering a paper on election reporting during a week-long training for Gambian journalists. Seeking to horn the skills of the journalists ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections due March 29, the training which wraps up today is the second of its kind – a similar one was held ahead of presidential polls.
It is being conducted under the auspices of IFCJ in collaboration with   The Gambia Press Union and FLARE, a Gambia rights body.