The opposition-Peoples Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has assured to analyse and evaluate the conduct of the recently concluded general voter registration exercise inorder to decide the genuine or otherwise of the upcoming November 24 presidential election.
“You have strengths and weaknesses of the system,” Mr Halifa Sallah, PDOIS’ spokesperson recently told newsmen at the premises of Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) along Bertil Harding Highway in Kanifing.
The revered politician said, his party will assess both the weaknesses and strengths of the system and evaluate whether the former will preempt the holding of genuine election.
On June 17, The Gambia’s electoral body wrapped an intensive forty-five day nation-wide voter registration. Over eight hundred thousand eligible voters have been registered. Reports however abound of irregularities such as double registration and possible registration of minors and non-citizens.
“The IEC gave us facts of the number of registered voters and has acknowledged the strengths and weaknesses of registration process,” Halifa said.
“Now, the revising court is the key instrument which we can utilise to clean the list before it becomes a master register.”
Halifa said, his party has gathered that non-citizens and non eligible Gambians have been registered.
“We must begin to evaluate and review with our registration agents to see what cases we are going to file at the revising court,” he said.
“But before then, we will be able to determine for ourselves whether the number of people that were fraudulently registered, were sufficient enough to create a master register that would not lead to genuine election.”
And if the number of fraudulent registrations is insufficient to bar the genuine Gambians from being able to vote in upcoming presidential election, he said, he would just expose the irregularities and concentrate on the strategies to effecting a change come Nov.24.