Ever since the announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission about the registration of a new political party in the country, the political scene seems to be wide awakening yet again.

With the 2011 presidential race being apparently on a roll, this latest development has been widely hailed as a very progressive development for the country’s democracy as it will provides a new impetus for people to discuss politics.

Yankuba Touray, National Mobiliser of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic, Re-orientation and Construction (APRC) party described the development as a demonstration of the peaceful and enabling environment that has been created by the APRC party since coming into power about fifteen years ago.

Speaking in an interview with this paper yesterday, the APRC National Mobiliser, who is also the Secretary of State for Fisheries and Natural Resources, said the formation of the new Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) party is a manifestation of the progress made in terms of the country’s democratisation progress.

The Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday 27th January 2008 announced the registration of a new political party, bringing to ten, the total number of political parties in the country.

“The forming of the new party is a clear demonstration of the free society that has been promoted by President Jammeh since the advent of the July 22nd revolution.

“This is also another demonstration of the progress made so far in terms of our democratisation progress”, Hon. Touray, who is also responsible for National Assembly matters said.

He expressed hope that they would all work closely for peaceful elections, while welcoming the formation of the new party.

Also speaking to this paper, Mr Henry Gomez, Leader of the opposition Gambia People’s Democratic party (GPDP) commended the government for providing the enabling environment and the Independent Electoral Commission for registering the GMC party. This, he added, is a show that democracy is at work in The Gambia.

According to the GPDP leader, it is the constitutional right of each and every citizen of this country to form his or her political party.

“This is a welcome development and I believe we as politicians in this country should come together irrespective of our political affiliations and build this nation,” he added.

Quizzed as to whether the opposition in the country is like a toothless bulldog that barks but does not bite, Mr Gomez refuted such claims, saying that what the country has is a peaceful opposition camp that believes in dialogue and not violence.

“Believe it or not, it is quite clear that what peace cannot give you, violence will never give it to you. So the opposition camp in this country believes in peaceful negotiations and dialogue.

“People should understand that politics is not about killing, fighting or character assassination,” he said.

For Mr Gomez, the registration of the new GMC party shows that there is real democracy in the country where people are able to make informed choices and decisions that will help in developing our country.

“The more opposition parties we have in this country, the more progress we will have in this country. There is no problem that cannot be solved. It’s just a matter of finding out the best solution,” he averred.