{"id":93607,"date":"2026-02-09T16:10:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/gap-declares-batchilly-presidential-candidate"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:36:56","slug":"gap-declares-batchilly-presidential-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gap-declares-batchilly-presidential-candidate","title":{"rendered":"GAP Declares Batchilly Presidential Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>The Gambia Action Party (GAP) has officially declared its secretary general and party leader, Musa Batchilly as its presidential candidate for the 2026 general election.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The announcement, made by the party\u2019s administrative secretary, followed what GAP described as \u201cbroad consultations\u201d with its national executive, regional coordinators, diaspora chapters, grassroots supporters, and strategic partners.<\/p>\n<p>The party said the declaration signals the start of a new political chapter focused on \u201ctruth, justice, accountability, and transformational leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GAP said its leader is a candidate capable of addressing national challenges, with solutions for the \u201cprolonged hardship, stagnation, and growing disconnect\u201d between citizens and the government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor too long, Gambians have endured hardship, stagnation, mismanagement, and a widening gap between the government and the people. The country is seeking leadership that is prepared, principled, and patriotic,\u201d the party\u2019s spokesman noted.<\/p>\n<p>He described Batchilly as a leader with a strong record of service and a clear vision for national renewal with an \u201cunwavering commitment to the welfare of every Gambian\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The GAP called on various segments of society, including youths, women, business owners, civil servants, farmers, elders, and people in the diaspora, to rally behind its \u201cnational transformation movement\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesman said The Gambia deserves better and that the country is ready for real change.<\/p>\n<p>The party was founded in 2016 by Mr Batchilly and joined the NPP grand coalition in the last presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The party has never contested an election on its own and does not have a representative elected officer in government.<\/p>\n<p>While the party on its website stated that it has come to \u201crestore trust in government through transparency, open data, anti-corruption enforcement, and inclusive public participation\u201d and that its \u201cleadership is built on truth, integrity, and service\u201d its leader has been mired in many cases of alleged fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The declaration comes as political parties begin positioning themselves ahead of the December polls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The Gambia Action Party (GAP) has officially declared its secretary general and party leader, Musa Batchilly as its presidential candidate for the 2026 general election. The announcement, made by the party\u2019s administrative secretary, followed what GAP described as \u201cbroad consultations\u201d with its national executive, regional coordinators, diaspora chapters, grassroots supporters, and strategic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-93607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>GAP Declares Batchilly Presidential Candidate - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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