No campaign should go beyond 22nd November – IEC warns

The Independent Electoral Commission has warned that the stipulated time frame for the end of campaign ahead of presidential election due on 24th November is midnight of the 22nd November and no campaign should go beyond this period.

A news release from the Commission yesterday said all campaign materials must be removed from all polling stations and counting centres and there should be no gathering at any of the polling and counting centres.

“Vehicles must also be parked a hundred metres away from the polling stations,” it said.

The Commission also reminded Gambians that according to Section 43 subsection 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia, it is the only body responsible for announcing the election results. “Therefore, the results from the counting centres are provisional until they are certified and announced by the Chairman of the IEC,” the Commission said.

The Commission went further to remind all concerned to be tolerant of each other so that the results of the election become a shared victory. “Though small, the Gambia can teach the world how to conduct elections peacefully,” it concludes.

In a separate but related development, the Independent Electoral Commission yesterday announced that it will take severe disciplinary measures including the disqualification of a candidate from the election in cases leading to “unfortunate incident.”

According to the Commission, an unfortunate incident happened in Farato on Sunday between two political parties. It said at a meeting convened by the IEC, the representative of the independent candidate apologized and promised the non-occurrence of the incident.

The Commission also reminded all candidates and their supporters to maintain the approved itineraries of the presidential candidates, which it said, supersedes all other campaign programmes.