By: Adama Makasuba
Momodou MC Cham, National Youth President of Gambia Democratic Congress has said the Independent Electoral Commission should put percentage requirements for political parties before they participate in elections.
Mr. Cham was speaking to The Voice in an exclusive interview, saying IEC should “put rules in place for the political parties to contest in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.”
According to him, “IEC has to regularize and oblige political parties to participate in elections and there is a percentage that if a political fail to meet, they deregister it.”
“Many people have been forming a political party whereby they didn’t even have a structure in place and according to IEC Act you need have regional office across the country, but some political parties still now don’t comply with the need,” he said.
He added: “there are many political parties that cannot fulfill their full executive members, so IEC should look into that area you don’t have an office and you are not participating in elections and you call yourself a political party.”
He however, lambasted slammed Gambia Moral Congress and Gambia Party for Democratic and Progress as NGOs.
He said: “I see GMC and GPDP as NGOs because right now you have four biggest political parties in this country, whether they like it or not which are GDC, UDP APRC, and PDOIS.”
There are many different parties in the country that doesn’t participate in elections, adding “parties like GMC and GPDP, so do not participate in elections, he said.
