By: Kebba AF Touray
The Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission Alieu Momar Njai, has confirmed to this medium that currently there are ten registered political parties in The Gambia.
Njai made this remark during an interview held on Monday July 1st 2019. He refuted claims suggesting the IEC registered more than ten political parties.
Chairperson Njai said among the ten registered parties, one is currently under suspension which is the National Convention Party. “Currently, we have thirty pending applications that request to be registered,” he said; that this shows that we are expecting more political parties to come forward for registration. He said he does not know whether all of them will turn up for registration before elections.
Currently, the IEC is engaged in consultation with stakeholders on electoral reforms to have their opinions on what they aspire to see in the political environment of the country.
Participants called for demarcations to be done by the IEC, the participation of Gambians in the Diaspora in elections, minimum of twenty one days for campaign for presidential candidates, issuing of campaign permits to political parties during elections, and voter registration to be held six months prior to elections, amongst others.
