By Ndey Sowe
Claude Condor, political adviser and special representative of ECOWAS president said political parties are the blocks of democracy and good governance; that they are the most broad-based political platform in the country’s nascent democracy.
Condor made these remarks on Monday June 10th 2019 during the official opening ceremony of the three day training of trainers on the Memorandum of Understanding and Code of Conduct of the Inter Party Committee (IPC) for political parties, held at Tendaba Camp in the Lower River Region.
“ECOWAS considers the IPC as a representative of the collective aspirations of Gambians,” he said; that the training of trainers on the MoU and Code of Conduct of the IPC is a significant milestone in the history of the country.
Condor said significantly, the IPC seeks to entrench democratic governance in the country; that this is in consonance with the ECOWAS Legal and Conflict Prevention Frameworks, and gave examples to the 1999 Protocol Relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, and the 2001 supplementary protocol on democracy and good governance. He said the training program aims to guarantee peaceful and respectful conduct of political activities including electoral campaign and voting. “It is indeed timely as the country is preparing to conduct the next presidential and legislative elections in the country in less than two years,” he said; that it is an activity of the democratic governance program supported by ECOWAS and the EU peace, security and stability mandate project. He urged members to perform their duties effectively and efficiently irrespective of their political affiliation and leaning and to be conscious of the fact that they have a fundamental role to play in building and strengthening democracy at the local, regional and national levels.
“This is indeed commendable for the future of democracy in the Gambia,” he said; that ECOWAS’ commitment to the full institutionalization and operationalization of the Inter-Party Committee for its continued steadfastness and aspiration for a better future, for the Gambia.
