BY NELSON MANNEH
The European Embassy under the leadership of Madam Alsup Patricia with repesentatives from the International Foundation for Election System (IFES), on Tuesday 4th April, 2017, Helds on an indoor meeting with the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commissioner (IEC) at the main Election House in Kanifing,in other to discuss issues pertaining to the Election observation on the forth coming parliamentary elections.
Shortly after the meeting Madam Patricia in an interview told journalists that they have receive other international stakeholders from International Foundation for Election System who came to observe the forth coming parliamentary election. So she escorted them to come and meet the chairman of IEC Mr. Alieu Momarr Njai.
In an interview with the representative from the IFES Foundation. Mr. Peter Erben told journalist that they are not here to observe the elections and writer reports instead they are technical advisers.
Mr. Peter Erben said they spending few days in the Gambia and within this period they will be working together with the IEC and other stakeholders to make sure that they trace some of the problems the IEC and the voters will be facing and how to improve on them. “We want the Gambia to also attain the international standard in other not to face any other political crises like what happened in the past. We all know how it was in the presidential elections so we don’t want that to be repeated again” he explains.
The IFES representative said, with this parliamentary election it will be very difficult with the election bodies since the candidates are many. He said, with the democracy election it is always difficult to conduct a transparency election but that is how it supposes to be.
These representatives will be moving through the length and breadth of the Gambia to see how local community cast their votes and how the drums are place to ensure free and fair elections.
