By Haddy Touray
The United Democratic Party (UDP) Tuesday hosted a delegation of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) which is in The Gambia on a pre-election assessment mission ahead of the December 2026 presidential election.
The eight-member delegation paid a courtesy call on UDP leader, H.E. ANM Ousainu Darboe, and held a working session with him and members of his team.
The delegation was co-led by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Professor Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Other members of the delegation included Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI Senior Associate for Africa and Special Adviser to the President; Dr Sophia Moestrup, NDI Deputy Director for Central and West Africa; Dr Enrique Bravo-Escobar, Senior Programme Officer at the National Endowment for Democracy; Philip Oke-Thomas, Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; and Lala Touray.
Darboe was accompanied by Lamin Manneh, UDP Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, and Pa Amadou Manneh, UDP Campaign Manager.
Discussions focused on a range of electoral and democratic issues, including supplementary voter registration, electoral dispute resolution, the judiciary, coalition building, hate speech, the electoral code of conduct, media representation, democratic reforms and diaspora voting.
The meeting also addressed constitutional reform, the participation of the NDI in the upcoming elections, publication of election results by political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), as well as the need for free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
The discussions, which lasted more than an hour, were described as frank and constructive.
The NDI delegation thanked the UDP leadership for the warm welcome and open engagement, while both sides expressed their willingness to maintain dialogue ahead of the December 2026 presidential election.
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