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Gambia to hold presidential election in December, 2016

By NAN
01 December 2015   |   12:35 pm
Gambia would hold presidential election in December, 2016, with legislative and local polls following in April, 2017 and April, 2018, respectively, the electoral commission said.
A resort in The Gambia

A resort in The Gambia

Gambia would hold presidential election in December, 2016, with legislative and local polls following in April, 2017 and April, 2018, respectively, the electoral commission said.

The West African nation of less than two million people has been ruled by Yahya Jammeh since 1994 when the then 29-year-old, seized power in a bloodless coup.

Jammeh, who said in 2007 that he had found herbal cure for AIDS, was re-elected in 2011 with 72 percent of the votes.

He had scrapped term limits from the constitution and blocked attempt by regional bloc, Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), to reinstate them in May.

The bloc refused to send observers to the last polls in 2011, citing intimidation of the opposition and the electorate.

“The presidential election will be held on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, while the National Assembly elections will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2017.

‘’In the same vein, the local government elections will be held on Thursday, April 12, 2018,’’ electoral commission Chairman, Alhagie Mustapha Carayol, told newsmen in Banjul.

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