Gambian Electoral Commission boss seeks power to deregister parties

Mustapha Carayol, Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Gambia, is seeking constitutional powers to enable him deregister political parties that are not functional for at least five years. In the Commission’s Annual Report for the period February 2007 to January 2008, the IEC boss also recommended that the Attorney General’s Chambers complete the drafting of the bill to transform the Elections Decree into an Elections Act, and urged the National Assembly to take the necessary steps to pass the act. The report will be laid before the National Assembly for scrutiny in accordance with the requirement of the Constitution of The Gambia. Panapress.