#Headlines

Halifah harps on low turnout in councillorship elections ahead of mayoral

Apr 27, 2023, 12:19 PM | Article By: Ali Jaw

The secretary general of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), Halifah Sallah, on Thursday talked about the unprecedented low turnout of Gambians to “assert their powers” and “affirm their voices” during the councillorship elections which were held recently.

Speaking at a presser held by the party on Thursday, following the councillorship elections, Halifah Sallah said: “The people have spoken, but to our surprise, the vast majority of people were and are still as silent. That is the state of your country; people who have a voice are still silent. People who have power still appear to be powerless.

“After all the exercise, where they should assert their powers, affirm their voices, they would start complaining about the problems of their own lands, about the difficulties, about their suffering, the lack of infrastructure, the lack of development, the decay of our environment, and services and institution.”

The veteran politician, however, said that the electoral system contradicts that which PDOIS stands for and wants to see, saying: “We stand for an ethics-based, knowledge-based, rule-based democratic system; we want to establish ethics-based, knowledge-based, rule-based democratic foundation. That is what we sought to do from the very beginning, that is what we are seeking to do still, and that we will continue to seek to do until that prevails in our homeland.”