IEC EXPLAINS WHY IT TURNED DOWN UMC, 6 OTHER PARTIES
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed to The Standard that it “turned down” registration applications from the Unite Movement for Change (UMC), and six other aspiring political parties, citing failure to meet strict requirements under the Elections Act.
The delays in the registration of new political parties, including UMC, the National Democratic Party (NDP), and several others awaiting official recognition has drawn public attention in recent weeks, with groups allied with the organisations expressing concern.
But reacting to the concerns in a Standard exclusive on Tuesday, IEC spokesperson Pa Makan Khan disclosed that the commission ordered these seven groups to revise and resubmit their documents after in-house assessments revealed critical shortcomings, such as inadequate submission of the list of the required 10,000 voters.
“There is no delay on the part of IEC to register any aspiring political party. We have received seven applications and all of them have been turned down. I deliberately used ‘turn down’ because we don’t reject party registration. It is the constitutional right of every Gambian to register a political party so the IEC cannot deny any Gambian his or her political rights,” Mr Khan said.
He added that when it comes to party registration there is no specific deadline.
“The law sets aside tangible requirements that the person or group has to fulfil before being registered.”
He said once a person or group aspires to register a political party they write to the chairman of the IEC who would respond with the details of the necessary documents or political party registration forms.
“Once you complete filling these forms, you return them to the IEC for verifications and review to make sure that the application fully complies with the law and once that is done, then the party is registered. So the seven applications which have been sent back didn’t meet the requirements.”
He said the IEC should be commended for the speed at which it has responded to some of the applications because there were parties that submitted applications in 2018 but only got registered in 2025.
“We do this to ensure that the person or group adheres to the rules and regulations guiding the registration of political parties,” he said.
He added that some of the parties that were turned down submitted their applications in November last year and by January were written to by the IEC on the status of their registration.
“Now, it is left to them to address the issues we raised and resubmit.”
Talib’s resignation from UDP
Responding to allegations that the IEC has requested Talib Bensouda to officially resign from the UDP before he could register the UMC, Mr Khan explained: “This has not been part of the issues. I know there was a letter from Kemo Bojang to the IEC requesting for the registration of UMC as a political party in November 2025.”
He said following verifications, on 27th January, the IEC responded to the request with explanations as to why it turned down the UMC registration.
“So the issue of resignation doesn’t arise because it is not part of the regulations,” he said.
External influence
The IEC spokesperson also denied allegations that the commission has been influenced externally to delay the registration of aspiring parties like the UMC.
“That is not even possible. These are legal issues and once the aspiring parties address them accordingly, the IEC will have no choice but to register them because if we don’t they have the right to take us to court,” he said.
Source: The Standard
