{"id":88222,"date":"2025-10-17T16:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T16:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates"},"modified":"2025-10-19T06:57:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T06:57:00","slug":"pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates","title":{"rendered":"PASTEF Urges IEC to Revise Local Election Dates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>A political movement has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to revise the calendar for the next local government elections, warning that the proposed dates would violate the five-year tenure mandated by law.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Patriotic Alliance for System Transformation, Emancipation through Functionalism (PASTEF The Gambia) made the call yesterday following the IEC\u2019s announcement of local election dates a while ago.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued recently, Mr. Mayorro Sidibeh, PASTEF\u2019s Public Relations and Communications Officer, reaffirmed the movement\u2019s commitment to the rule of law and democratic principles as enshrined in the 1997 Constitution and the Local Government Act of 2002 (as amended). He noted that Sections 193(1) and 193(3) of the Constitution provide for democratically elected local councils, while the Local Government Act sets the term of office for mayors, regional chairpersons, and councillors at five years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis tenure is not just administrative; it is a legal obligation,\u201d Sidibeh said. \u201cIt guarantees continuity, democratic accountability, and respect for the will of the electorate. Any shortening of this term undermines these core principles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PASTEF expressed deep concern over the IEC\u2019s recently announced election schedule, which sets councillor elections for 22 May 2027 and mayoral and chairperson elections for 26 June 2027. Since current officeholders were elected in May\u2013June 2023, the movement argues these dates fall short of the full five-year term, effectively amounting to an unlawful early election. PASTEF warned that proceeding with these dates would breach the Local Government Act and erode public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the IEC is empowered under Section 43 of the Constitution to conduct elections, its actions must remain within the bounds of the law,\u201d Sidibeh added. \u201cWithout a legally valid justification, the proposed 2027 elections would constitute a clear violation of democratic norms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PASTEF is therefore calling for the rescheduling of local government elections to May\u2013June 2028, ensuring compliance with the law. The movement also urged civil society, political actors, and citizens to remain vigilant and advocate for electoral processes anchored in legality, fairness, and respect for institutional mandates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocracy demands consistency, not convenience,\u201d the statement concluded. \u201cThe integrity of our electoral system must never be compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. A political movement has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to revise the calendar for the next local government elections, warning that the proposed dates would violate the five-year tenure mandated by law. The Patriotic Alliance for System Transformation, Emancipation through Functionalism (PASTEF The Gambia) made the call yesterday following the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":88221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-88222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PASTEF Urges IEC to Revise Local Election Dates - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A political movement has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to revise the calendar for the next loc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PASTEF Urges IEC to Revise Local Election Dates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A political movement has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to revise the calendar for the next loc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T16:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-19T06:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/sm_1760709729.055105.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"PASTEF Urges IEC to Revise Local Election Dates\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-17T16:15:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-19T06:57:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/sm_1760709729.055105.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/pastef-urges-iec-to-revise-local-election-dates\",\"name\":\"PASTEF Urges IEC to Revise Local Election Dates - 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