By Nelson Manneh
Seedy Njie, the APRC Spokesperson said their candidate for Basse Area Council Chairpersonship, Pa Amadou Susso, whose candidature was rejected by the IEC, was never imprisoned; that instead he was fined to pay three thousand Dalasi on the first Count and two thousand Dalasi on the second Count.
The APRC spokesperson made the statement in an interview with Foroyaa, on the decision of the IEC, to reject the nomination of their candidate to run for the Chairperson Election.
Njie said the petition made by Mr. Baldeh against their candidate, was never addressed to the Returning Officer in Basse.
“According to the Elections Act, the objection of the nomination of a candidate should be done during nomination day. But in the case of our candidate he was nominated on the 23rd of April and the objection was written on the 26th of April,” he said.
Njie said the IEC should rescind their decision for the interest of fair play; that they will never allow their decision to stand; that the IEC is denying their party the right to participate in the politics of the URR, by baselessly rejecting the candidature of Pa Amadou Suso, to contest for the election of a Chairperson for the Basse Area Council.
“Our candidate in Basse is not holding any campaign and this is illegal and unjustifiable,” he said. According to Njie, the IEC cannot resort to any legal mechanism to stop their candidate from participating in the elections in URR.
Njie said as far as the Local Government and the Elections Act are concerned, their candidate cannot be rejected.
Njie said they are entitled to 14 days of campaign and they are being denied that right; that maybe, the IEC will extend the elections of the URR Chairpersonship; that their right has been trampled upon and they will never let go like that.
“Whenever they respond to us, what so ever the party decides, we will do. We have a lot of possibilities. We may hold peaceful demonstrations to show our dissatisfaction with the Electoral body,” he said.
