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Gambia News : Opposition parties challenge legality of Gambia’s electoral law

The local government elections scheduled to be held in The Gambia in January 2008 may suffer a setback as two of the countries opposition parties ; the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) have recently filed a joint suit at the Supreme Court of the Gambia urging it to grant them an injunction restraining the Independent Electoral Commission from conducting elections for the municipal and local government authorities.

The suit, which is supposed to be heard next week in Banjul came in the wake of a constitutional and local government amendments which gives powers to President Yahya Jammeh to dissolve municipal councils and to sack elected councillors from office. The amendment also allows elected councillors to select chairpersons of local government areas rather them being elected through universal adult suffrage.

The plaintiffs also want the court to make a declaration that the amendment of the Local Government Act 2007 by the National Assembly on 31st October was made in excess of the powers conferred on both the National Assembly and the president.