Gambia looks set to raise the cost of running in next year's
elections with a new bill that a pro-democracy group says will make it harder
for opposition parties to compete against President Yahya Jammeh.
Parliament passed a bill on Tuesday requiring presidential
candidates to pay 500,000 dalasis (about $12,740). Candidates for the national
assembly, mayor and ward councillor will also need to pay between $250 and
$12,750 under the revised bill that Jammeh is likely to sign into law. The
government said the bill was aimed at ensuring that political parties are
organised and well led.
"Half a million dalasis is way out of reach for the
majority of Gambians, especially the opposition," said JegganGrey-Johnson, an analyst for Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa.
"It is meant to price ... a majority of the people out."
The oppositional newspaper Foroyaa criticised the bill's
like passage in an editorial, saying it does not respect the electoral
commission's independence. "Every honest Gambian ... (should) know that
the amendment is a threat to the independence of the (Electoral) Commission and
a barrier to the democratic and unrestricted participation of the people in
electing their representatives," it said.
The average annual income in Gambia, one of the world's
poorest countries, is around $450. The country relies on tourism but its
industry was battered last year by a regional Ebola outbreak even though Gambia
did not record a case.
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