Ousainou Darboe who leads Gambia’s biggest opposition movement Monday tendered his presidential nomination papers to Independent Electoral Commission chairman Joseph Colley.
Accompanied by thousands of his supporters dressed in their trademark party colours, yellow, Darboe was guided through the process by Mr Colley to whom the veteran lawyer submitted his proof of citizenship, income tax clearance receipts, asset declaration, educational profile and D1million deposit and 5000 nominee signatures as mandated by the country’s constitution among other requirements.
Darboe 78. is looking to bid for the presidency when Gambians go to the polls on December 5th, his sixth attempt after failing in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2021. He was jailed by the government of then President Yahya Jammeh during the 2016 presidential vote when current President Adama Barrow then a member of Darboe’s UDP, pulled off a shock victory.
Mr. Darboe served as foreign minister and vice-president under President Barrow before the two political proteges fell out in 2019.
After tendering his nomination papers at Election House, Darboe was told by IEC boss Colley that aspirants will be notified of the fate of their nomination bids by November 16, marking the official start to the campaign.
Facing waiting journalists after his nomination presentation, Mr. Darboe confirmed that this would be his last bid for the presidency and urged Gambians to vote based on candidates with the best development policies. He said should he be elected, his administration would fight tooth and nail to root out corruption and usher the country on a path to social and economic progress. He said the sense of hopelessness driving thousands of young Gambians to embark on perilous journeys to Europe should be blamed on the failed socio-economic policies of a government that has lost touch with the common welfare of the people.
Darboe was later escorted out of the IEC headquarters by a yellow tide of UDP supporters waiting by his motorcade at the Bertil Harding dual carriageway.
Meanwhile the IEC on Sunday announced that it is halfway through the process of receiving nominations from aspirants seeking to run for the presidency on December 5th, 2026.
IEC chairman Joseph Colley said the commission was well within its schedule to receive submissions from prospective candidates ahead of the polls.
According to him, aspirant Alkali Cham and Sheikh Matarr Nyang have withdrawn their bids for nomination, taking the number of withdrawals to four.
27 aspirants had originally been listed by the IEC for nomination.
Since the turn of the year, Gambia has witnessed a series of behind-the-scenes negotiations and horse-trading among some of the country’s biggest political groups with a view to forming electoral alliances ahead of the high-stakes elections.
The NPP pulled off a propaganda coup over their rivals after Mamma Kandeh’s Gambia Democratic Congress, which came third in the 2021 presidential election, and erudite lawyer Essa Faal threw their weight behind the ruling party.
WN/as/APA