Citizens’ Alliance leader
The Citizens’ Alliance (CA) has said it would neither endorse any political party or candidate nor enter into an alliance with any party or candidate for the upcoming December 4 presidential elections
Among others, the party also instructed its lawyers to commence Contempt of Court proceedings against the Chairman of the IEC for ‘willful disobedience’ of the order of the court.
The party conveyed the information in a statement signed by its National President, Dominic Mendy.
“The Citizens’ Alliance (CA), on 2nd November 2021, filed the nomination particulars of its presidential candidate, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, at the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) Head Office in Kanifing. To the party’s shock and utter dismay, on 6th November 2021, the IEC in a press conference announced that it had rejected CA’s candidate’s nomination on the grounds that he failed to submit the minimum required signatures of 200 from the Banjul Administrative Area. CA filed an appeal to the IEC on 8th November 2021. This appeal was also rejected by the IEC on 9th November 2021.
“In exercising its constitutional rights and with full trust in the judicial system, CA and its presidential candidate filed a case at the High Court of The Gambia to determine the violation of the latter’s fundamental human rights as enshrined in section 26 of the constitution of The Gambia and IEC’s non-compliance with the Election Act in rejecting CA’s candidate’s nomination, among others. The High Court, after a week of hearings delivered a landmark judgment declaring that the IEC failed to comply with the provisions and spirit of the Election Act in rejecting the nomination of CA’s presidential candidate and ordered, among others, that “the applicants are entitled to submit an additional list of names and signatures of Registered voters for the Banjul Administrative Area, having regard to the fact that the 1st Applicant only had notice of the rejection of his nomination contrary to the spirit of section 47(3) of the Election Act Cap 3:01; which invariably amounts to a denial of his rights to deliver a fresh nomination paper and/or cure any defect in his nomination form which is in consonance with all known rules of fairness, equity and natural justice.”
“The court further directed that “the Applicant be permitted to submit the additional list of names and signatures of registered voters for the Banjul Administrative Area to the Returning Officer who shall first be at liberty to satisfy himself or herself that all constitutional and other legal requirements have been met in accordance with section 46 of the Act.” In compliance with the court order, CA submitted fresh nomination forms with 331 signatures from the Banjul Administrative Area to the IEC on 25th November 2021. On 26th November, CA received a response from the IEC rejecting the additional signatures thereby failing to comply with the High Court order. This action constitutes contempt of court.
“We strongly urge the IEC to stop threading on this self-destructive path and follow the path of the rule of law. The IEC is expected to operate within the framework, spirit and substance of the law and should always be guided by the principle of fairness, equity and transparency. However, for all intents and purposes, CA finds the actions of the IEC to be in blatant disregard of the court order and is of the belief that the Commission is bent on frustrating the party’s bid to contest the 2021 election. The IEC, as confirmed by the High Court’s ruling, flagrantly violated the Election Act and failed to follow their own law (Decree 78, Election Act). Therefore, their continued attempt to deprive CA’s presidential candidate’s rights to run for election is deemed to be premeditated and based on ill-will. The discriminatory and exclusionary manner the IEC has handled the nomination process have depleted the little trust the party had in the former’s ability to conduct a free and fair election.
“We call on all Gambians, civil society, the international community, elections observers (both local and international) to be vigilant. This country is going into a very high-stakes election and we should do everything to jealously guard the peace and stability of our homeland. We further warn that the IEC if not restrained, could undermine the integrity of the 2021 election and our peace.
“Based on the foregoing, the party has also made the following decisions:
1. Citizens’ Alliance will neither endorse any political party or candidate nor enter into an alliance with any party or candidate in the upcoming December 4 presidential elections.
2. Citizens’ Alliance has instructed its lawyers to commence Contempt of Court proceedings against the Chairman of the IEC for willful disobedience of the order of the court.
“We continue to reaffirm our trust and confidence in the judiciary and will continue to seek legal redress in the courts. We thank all our supporters, members, sympathizers and the entire Gambian population for their support and for standing by CA during this very difficult period. We urge all our members, supporters, and militants to stay calm at all times, be law abiding and peaceful at all times. We extend our best wishes to all the presidential candidates and wish them good luck, and urge every citizen to vote wisely and peacefully,” the statement reads.