By Lamin Cham
Following two weeks of legal tussle with the IEC over the rejection of his nomination papers, Dr Ismaila Ceesay of the Citizens’ Alliance has now declared he will not run for president in the 4th December presidential election.
Last week the high court in Banjul ruled that IEC acted in violation of the Elections Act in rejecting Ceesay’s nomination stating that the electoral body should have allowed him and his party to submit fresh nominations to replace the “invalid” names of nominators he submitted for the Banjul Administration Area.
Dr Ceesay said the party did that last week but again the IEC rejected those new nominations. However, according to the CA leader, “given the limited time between now and the election, and for the sake of peace and stability in the nation”, he will not push for contesting the election.
“However, we feel wronged and shall continue to fight that legally. Our party has been all around the country and it is built not just to contest the presidential election. The CA is a national political movement that is here to stay and remember there are National Assembly and other elections coming,” he said.
Dictatorship at IEC
Earlier, Dr Ceesay held a press conference where he accused the IEC chief electoral officer Samboujang Njie of being the only one dictating things at the Election House. He further alluded without stating evidence that Mr Njie is suspected to be loyal to a certain political party. He said he will lift the lid on his accusation at a more propitious time.
When contacted for comments, Samboujang Njie said he was “too busy” coordinating the deployment of electoral materials across the country and whenever he found it necessary, he would “fittingly respond” to Dr Ceesay’s allegations.
