The coalition made the recommendation yesterday, Sunday, during a joint final observation report presentation on the Local Government Elections for Mayoral/Chairpersons with the Election Watch Committee – The Gambia at TANGO conference hall.
The report added that holding the elections together would encourage high voter turnout and civic responsibilities of the citizenry.
“We are disturbed by the lack of legal reforms surrounding elections,” the Coalition report stated. “We are even more concerned that for many years now the Election Bill has not been passed at the National Assembly. The issues of attestation, diaspora voting, campaign financing and the timing and the combining of elections such as councillor and mayoral/chairperson elections among other issues are all pertinent to achieving high voter turnout, the attainment of free and fair elections and the upholding of the rights of all Gambians.”
It therefore called on the National Assembly, the Government, and the political parties to take urgent steps to ensure that the Election Bill captures all international electoral norms and best practices to realise free, fair, and transparent elections.
“Democracy is a system that generates and promotes divergent views for it to continue to improve itself, and consequently produce development, peace and security,” the Coalition said, adding: “In view of this, the CSO Coalition would urge the IEC and indeed the Government and the Opposition Parties to create the space and mechanism for dialogue so as to forestall any incidence of conflict as we have seen in Banjul and other hotspot areas across the country in the course of the Councillorship and Chairperson/Mayoral elections.”
The Coalition also re-echoed its call to political parties for the political participation and representation of women to promote equality between men and women given the low level of women’s representation mainly due to patriarchy and conservative socio-cultural beliefs.
It stated further that there was every reason to believe that part of the abnormal low voter turnout “lies in the public’s lack of or limited trust in politics, elected politicians, and democratic institutions” such as the Executive, the Legislature, and local councils.
“The tenure of the IEC Chair has been engulfed in controversy since 2017,” the Coalition pointed out. “The recent announcement that the term of the Chair has been extended to 2025 has raised more concerns. We wish to call on the Government to therefore review and address this issue with urgency to protect the credibility and independence of the IEC and the integrity of elections.”
The Coalition also called on IEC to priorities needs of persons with disabilities for inclusive elections.
