Chief Electoral Officer IEC GRTS VIOLATES ELECTIONS DECREE I wish to convey to the commission through you that the GRTS had deliberately decided to violate section 93 (1) of the election decree which states that “the commission shall, during an election campaign period, ensure that equal air time is given to each candidate and national party on the public radio and television” For your information the GRTS decided to broadcast a statement made by Buba Sanyang while he was in custody at the NIA headquaters indicating that he was given nomination forms to fill but that he had impersonated IEC personnel to obtain the signatories of some of the people. It is not my concern whether such confession was obtained under duress or not. This is for the courts to determine. What is of concern to me is the GRTS Radio is reporting as news that I have asked Buba Sanyang to obtain the signatories by impersonating I.E.C personnel. I have been duly nominated with over 6000 people subscribing to my nomination. The GRTS report is giving the impression that my nomination is invalid. Many of my supporters are calling to find out whether my nomination is still valid. This conforms that the TV and Radio broadcast is calculated to sow the seed of uncertainly among the voters. This is buttressed by the fact that the GRTS failed to send reporters to cover a press conference I held to clarify matters on 20th August 2006 after their broadcast. They repeated their 20th August broadcast on Buba Sanyang on 21st August 2006 but suppressed the broadcasting of my 20th August 2006 broadcast in which I tried to clarify the issue. The matter was reported to Mr. Joe Colley but nothing was done until the end of the campaign period. What is repugnant is that the Radio broadcast on the Buba Sanyang still on and is likely to feature in the 1pm news, a day before the election. In this light I will like the Commission to act with immediacy to issue a press release indicating that my nomination as a candidate has not been invalidated, that I have reported that my 10 minutes air time have been suppressed to your disapproval and to call on all media houses including the state media to desist from any news item that could be prejudicial to any candidate. It is your duty to get the GRTS to interview me and broadcast my opinion on the issue in the interest of natural justice and fairness. While anticipating your maximum cooperation. I remain Yours in the service of the nation. …………………………….. Hon Halifa Sallah NADD Presidential candidate Cc: Commonwealth Observer Team WACSOF Pan African Election Expert GRTS Media Houses To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]