The matter which I have to raise is a complicated one and I hope, therefore, that the House will permit me to refer rather freely to my notes in order that I may give a concise account of it in the very short time at my disposal.

On 28th May this year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies announced in the House, in reply to a Question by the hon. Lady the Member for Flint, East (Mrs. White), that he had advised the use of an Order in Council the effect of which would be to set aside the judgment of the Gambia Court of Appeal which had declared certain elections in the Gambia general elections of 1962 to be invalid. The decision of the Court of Appeal reversed an earlier decision by the Gambia High Court which had, in fact, upheld the validity of the elections.

The Order in Council came into operation on 6th June, when the House was inrecess. There was, therefore, no opportunity to discuss the matter in the House, apart from the brief exchanges on 28th May. I am, therefore, grateful for this opportunity to ventilate the matter.

The issue before both courts turned on the validity of the1961 register on which the 1962 elections had been held. This 1961 register of electors was quite distinct from the 1959 register on which the 1960 elections had been held. Indeed, the 1959 register of electors should have had validity until 1969, subject, of course, to certain amendments, deletions and additions. However, an amending Ordinance was introduced in Gambia in 1961, the purpose of which was to amend certain provisions of the electoral law in view of the impending general elections in 1962. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said that the object of the amending Ordinance of 1961 was to provide for the compilation of entirely new registers and that imprecise wording of one phrase in the Ordinance had given rise to the Court of Appeal's decision which had invalidated the register.

A perusal of the 1961 Ordinance does not support this view. There is nothing in it specifically or by inference authorising the compilation of new registers. Furthermore, the Chief Justice in the High Court in his judgment described the making of the 1961 register as a sheer waste of time and energy. However, he declined to declare the register invalid because he thought that Section 10(e) of the 1961 Ordinance had the effect of validating this irregularity. The Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that this was not so and accordingly declared certain elections in the Protectorate, not the Colony, invalid.

There has been quoted in support of the 1961 register Section 6(a) of the 1961 Ordinance which provided for certifying registrations and said that upon such certification such registers shall be deemed to have been lawfully compiled. Even so, it seems clear to me that the intention was that the 1962 elections should be held on the 1959 register, subject to certain amendments. In spite of this, a completely new register known as the 1961 register, was drawn up.

This register, by the way, was the subject of many criticisms during the court hearing and several gross irregularities have been alleged. In particular, I might mention, it was alleged that six of the registration clerks were actually potential candidates at the forthcoming elections. Whether those charges have been investigated or not, I do not know.

In any case, the appeal judge confirmed the view of the High Court that the 1961 register should never have been drawn up, and it was on this point that he declared the elections in certain constituencies invalid. He concluded that Section 6(a) of the 1961 Ordinance, which has been quoted as validating the1961 register, did not, in fact, have this effect since its purpose was to validate only the lists of voters which would operate in Amendment of the 1959 register.

The effect of the Appeal Court's decision is that the elections to all the 25 seats in the Protectorate have been rendered invalid, leaving only the seven Colony members and the four Chief's representatives validly elected. Clearly, this"rump", as it has been called, cannot legislate for the territory or operate effectively as a government, neither can it validate the 1961 register.

The Opposition party, headed by Mr. P. S. N'Jie, which was, incidentally, defeated at the elections, feels very strongly that the Appeal Court's decision should be upheld and that fresh elections should take place. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said on 28th May that Mr. N'Jie's opposition party, the United Party, which was defeated at the 1962 elections, was in power when the 1961 register was drawn up, and therefore, since it did not object to that register at the time, it had no case now.

I do not wish to speak at any length on that point, because my right hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Sir J. Vaughan-Morgan), if he catches your eye, Mr. Speaker, will say some words about that. I just want to say that Mr. N'Jie, who was then Chief Minister, says that he had no influence at all on the compilation of the register since he was in that respect regarded as only the head of a political party.

But in view of what I have said it seems to me a serious matter that Her Majesty's Government should validate registrations which have been declared invalid by the highest court of law in the Gambia. It further appears that the 1961 register was not declared invalid owing to the imprecise drafting of one phrase in the 1961 ordinance as my right hon. Friend alleged, but rather that a phrase in that Ordinance was wrongly assumed by the High Court judge to validate the 1961 register, and this view was rejected by the Appeal Court.

I think that I should mention here that the validity of the Order in Council itself could be challenged, owing to the dual character of the territory, which comprises both a Colony and a Protectorate, but I do not wish—I am not, indeed, competent—to argue that point, which is a purely legal one.

I should like to say that the future of the Gambia is at present in the balance. It is recognised that it is a small unviable territory with a very uncertain future should it become an independent State and, indeed, moves are afoot for it either to join the neighbouring French-speaking territory of the Senegal or associate with it in some sort of federation.

This is a matter of the highest possible constitutional importance to the Gambia, and, in my view, the negotiations for this should not be left to a Government who have been declared to be invalidly constituted. I freely admit that it is essential that the actions of the present Gambian Government should be validated till a new Government can be elected. But there would seem to be a very strong case for the argument that a new Government validly elected should bear the responsibility of negotiating the future of the territory.

In view of this, I urge that a new Order in Council should be introduced arranging for the drawing up of entirely new registers under independent control, and that a new Government should be elected under these new registers. Obviously, this will occasion considerable delay, but in a matter of such importance it is, in my view, essential that Her Majesty's Government should be seen to act impartially and not proceed in an apparently arbitrary manner to flout the decisions of the highest court of law in Gambia. The opposition party in the Gambia feels very deeply aggrieved at the action of the Secretary of State, and takes the view—which I must admit I share—that the future of the territory should be decided only by a validly elected Government clearly reflecting the views of the electorate.