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On the long awaited local government elections
Halifa Sallah calls for pressure on the executive


THalifa Sallah of the Peoples Democratic Organisation of Independence and
Socialism (PDOIS) has called for pressure to be put on the executive to take
the local government bill before the National Assembly for enactment.
Speaking to The Independent, Mr. Sallah indicated that the old local
government laws contravene the autonomy required by the constitution as far
as the councils are concerned.

He pointed out that section 28 of the Local Government Act empowers the
President to dissolve the councils and appoint an administrator. He said 'we
really do not want to go back to such a situation'. He said it is clearly
stipulated in section 28 (4) of the Act, which says 'A person or persons
appointed shall from the date of publication of he notice in the gazette
have all the necessary powers, for the performance of their duty, function
or responsibility to which such appointment relate and the council shall be
divested such powers during the period of such appointment.'

Moreover, Mr.Sallah said actions of the council must get the minister's
approval while he said the constitution envisages autonomous councils.
'Elections are meant for the people to select their representatives to
perform functions that should be stipulated by law.

The questions worth asking are; who is qualified to run for elections? What
would be their functions? How long are they to stay in office? These
questions should be addressed before any meaningful elections take place,'
Mr. Sallah emphasised. He also said even if the IEC was to stick to the
changed date for the local government elections, there would be no law to
guide the people elected, which he said is a problem.

For his part, the Majority Leader in the National Assembly Tamsir Jallow
said the IEC should not have changed the dates without the consent of the
government. 'The IEC is independent but it should have a limit,' he
stressed. He said they can fix election dates 'but where is the law for
fixing elections?' he queried.

He also said that there is an existing law for local government elections,
'unless they want to conduct elections with the proposed Local Government
Act.' On whether one could accuse the IEC of promoting taxation without
representation, Mr. Jallow remarked, 'taxation without representation are
political jargons bandied about by the opposition.

What is important is; are the people blatantly denied their rights? No, it
is a process and it has a life-span, and if it has not concluded its cycle,
it has not been concluded. Mr. Jallow also revealed that the APRC are
'well-prepared for the elections. 'Look; how can we be so naive to be in
government when we do not prepare for elections.

We (the government) finance elections and it is only the opposition that
have a big mouth to say that they are well-prepared.' The Minority Leader in
National Assembly Kemesseng Jammeh, said the UDP received the news of the
deferral of the local government elections with 'disapproval.' In fact, he
asserted, the elections are long over-due but they should be preceded by the
relevant legislation which is to govern area councils.

He accused the APRC government of 'dragging its feet' to introduce the bill
to the National Assembly. ' The government has defaulted in its
responsibilities to take the necessary action,' he said.

He added that the UDP is well prepared for the elections as 'we are in a
position to be able to field candidates for all administrative areas.' The
NRP leader, Hamat Bah could not be reached for comments as he was on a tour
of the Provinces,but a party official, Njobo Baldeh revealed that the IEC
called all the political parties to a meeting at its headquarters last
Thursday and chief among the discussions he said were the Sami chieftaincy
elections and the local government elections vis-a-vis the proposed local
government legislation.

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