Hon Mrs Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay

As a subscriber to the "l" I wonder whether  you will give us your thoughts
about Hon Halifa Sallah's proposals. Please read the following news article
for today's Independent Newspaper

Electoral Commission Urged to Nullify Nominations

The Independent (Banjul)
April 15, 2002
Posted to the web April 15, 2002

By Omar Bah
Banjul

The National Assembly member for Serrekunda Central Honourable Halifa
Sallah has urged the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to cancel the
just-ended nomination for the impending local government elections and
prepare the grounds for elections at a more appropriate date.

Honourable Sallah who was explaining the reason for PDOIS' non-
participation in the election process, said that they had always been very
ready to participate and that many committees have already identified the
people they would want to be their candidates. But according to him, the
PDOIS leadership was not sure whether those committees had used the right
criteria for their selections.

"When they approached the central committee, we tried to find out whether
the IEC was relying on the Local Government Act, which exists because of
the lack of enactment of a new one or not. We discovered that the IEC was
quoting the clauses of the Local Government Bill 2002 to utilize it as the
criteria for qualification" he explained.

He asserted that they had to tell their people that the bill could only
become law if it ere passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the
president and published in the gazettes within 30 days of its passing.

Up to the time of nominations, he went on, the bill had not become law and
they could not give advice to their members.

"That is why PDOIS is absent at the nominations and we are still hoping
that the IEC will discover their blunder, accept it in good faith, cancel
the nomination and schedule a new date for nominations and elections" he
said.

Asked what would their option be, if IEC does not take heed of their view
Honorable Sallah said that they are open to many options.

According to him, the party will have to review the development and come up
with an appropriate position. Notwithstanding, he said they believe it is
in the interest of the IEC and the nation at large to allow the Local
Government Act to come into force, educate the masses on its provisions,
before holding elections. "This will bring Gambians into the process with
more inspiration and offer a new start" he opined.




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Copyright © 2002 The Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by
AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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