Joseph
Colley, director of Communications and Training at the IEC, said political
parties are government in waiting because they have to look at the party’s
constitution and the internal democracy of the party.
In
an interview with The Point, Mr. Colley said for a political party to be
officially formed, all the requirements must be in place.
He
said all the political party executives should be resident in The Gambia and
also hold biennial congress.
For
registrations, he said, the Code of Campaign Ethics in section 92 (1) of the
Elections Act shall be binding on all political parties and candidates
contesting any position in all elections conducted by the Independent Electoral
Commission.
According
to the Independent Electoral Commission, profile of political parties indicates
14 parties with National Congress Party (NCP) on suspension.
Section
60 (2) of the 1997 Constitution states that no association shall be registered
or remain registered as a political party if; (a) it is formed or organised on
an ethnic, sectional, religious or regional basis; (b) its internal
organisation does not conform with democratic principles; or (c) its purpose is
to subvert this constitution or the rule of law.
Any
association seeking to form a political party must abide by the guidelines of
the Elections Act, as amended, the application must be accompanied by a
declaration signed by not less than ten thousand (10,000) registered voters, at
least one thousand (1,000) voters from each of the seven administrative areas,
in the form provided by the Commission.
The
guideline further states the prescribed registration fee of the D1, 000,000.00,
which should be paid to the Commission at the time of submitting the
application and the party should have a national character and should not be
formed on any sectional, religious, ethnic or regional basis.
Colley
cited the 1997 Constitution on the requirements to contest for presidential
candidate, members of parliament, mayors and councilors.
Section
105 of the Elections Act Amendment 2015 requires that parties’ executives must
reside in The Gambia, with a secretariat in each administrative region and
submit yearly audited accounts to the IEC.
