It states that the EU will provide “an independent and evidence-based assessment
of the electoral process and will work together with citizens to consolidate democracy “
Soldecanarias.net / Adeje
The European Union will deploy an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the presidential elections scheduled in The Gambia on December 4.
“This will be the first EU mission to observe a presidential election in the Gambia and its deployment reaffirms our commitment to support the consolidation of democracy,” said Mohamed Jamil Derbah, international adviser to several African countries.
With this mission, according to Derbah, the EU aims to help “anchor the democratic change that the Gambian people achieved in 2017” and, therefore, has responded to the invitation made by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission to send an electoral mission. which will be headed by Norbert Neuser MEP.
Under Neuser’s leadership, the EU EOM will provide “an independent and evidence-based evaluation of the electoral process and will work together with the citizens of the Gambia to consolidate democratic advances,” said the international adviser from several African countries.
Mohamed Derbah points out that it is “crucial” that the European Union accompanies these presidential elections in The Gambia and showed his confidence that “state authorities, political parties and all candidates play their role in promoting peaceful and credible elections.”
The core team of the EU Election Observation Mission consists of nine electoral experts who will arrive in Banjul on October 27 and will remain until the completion of the electoral process.
On November 4, 16 long-term observers will join the mission and deploy to the 7 regions of The Gambia. Its capacity will be reinforced by 16 short-term observers from Europe and several short-term observers recruited locally on Election Day.
After Election Day, the mission will issue a preliminary statement and hold a press conference in Banjul.
Later, a final report, which will include recommendations for future electoral processes, will be presented and shared with stakeholders after the completion of the entire electoral process.
Following the Gambia’s peaceful democratic transition in early 2017, the EU deployed an EOM for the 2017 parliamentary elections and an Election Monitoring Mission (EFM) in 2019.
This will be the second time the EU has deployed an EOM in the Gambia, but the first mission to observe a presidential election in the country.
