By Landing Ceesay
The Gambia Participates, a civil society organisation, has urged the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to publish key electoral information early on its website and avoid errors in announcing election results.
“The IEC should publish key electoral information early on their website including the list of all the polling stations and their polling streams alongside their polling codes in each constituency disaggregated by registered voters and gender to aid observers that are doing the proportional deployment. The IEC must avoid errors in the reporting of election results. Inconsistent results could destabilize the country given the sensitivity of elections,” Marr Nyang, Executive Director of Gambia Participates said.
He further urged the IEC to remain vigilant and Independent in the announcement of election results without external influence.
The Gambia Participates Executive Director said the citizens ‘must’ accept the verdict of Gambians should their candidate lose the election.
“Citizens should refrain from physical attack on their political opponents and respect the rights of every Gambian to support a candidate of their choice. Citizens must accept the verdict of Gambians should their candidate lose the elections. On social media, citizens must refrain from publishing content that could jeopardize the stability of the country. Citizens should report election misconduct to the relevant authorities and not take the law into their own hands. Citizens at all times should wear face masks and respect the Covid-19 protocols on Election Day,” he said.
Gambia Participates is a youth-led civil society organization that focuses on enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector. It works in the area of anti-corruption, fighting against corruption in The Gambia by leveraging modern digital tools and other methods to track the expenditures of the government, and to engage people on these expenditures.
The Executive Director, Marr Nyang made these remarks on Thursday at a press briefing at a local hotel in Kololi.