The Ecowas commission has said regazetting the draft constitition in The Gambia represents an important milestone in producing a new national blueprint reflecting the wishes of its citizens, APA can report on Saturday.
”The commission recognises that no constitution is perfect. It therefore calls on the government and people of The Gambia to focuson the greater national interestas they scrutnize the draft document prior to its presentation to a national referendum” said a statement from the organisation.
Ecowas said it was renewing its commitment to supporting the people of The Gambia in this exercise to produce a new constitution which would safeguard all interests in the country.
The Gambia government earlier this week announced the regazetting of the controversial draft constitution, giving it a second shot at life after it was shelved three years ago.
The draft was shot down by mostly MPs of the ruling National People’s Party and their allies in the national assembly, apparently uncomfortable with several of its provisions including a limited term for the occupant of the presidency and the word ‘secular’ to describe the Gambian state which was muddled in controversy.
In a statement the government said after reviewing the draft constitution that was presented by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) on the 30th day of March 2020, it was regazetting the draft on Wednesday for eventual tabling before the national assembly.
This will be for a three month period and subsequently for another ten days as required under the 1997 constitution it is meant to eventually replace.
”The draft, as it currently stands, reflects our national values and ethos, and is consistent with the existence of The Gambia as a sovereign independent republican state with a multi-party democracy premised on democratic principles with periodic elections based on universal adult suffrage” the statement from the presidency said.
The government said its content is unprecedented because ”for the first time in the history of our constitutional development, the draft introduces term limits for persons serving in the Office of President and a mechanism of justice and accountability for atrocious crimes”.
A so-called constitutional review commission was established in 2019 tasked with producing a new constitution to replace the current body of national laws roundly criticised as a blueprint which pandered to the whims and caprices of President Adama Barrow’s predecessor Yahya Jammeh who fled into exile after a shock election loss almost eight years ago.
However, some provisions of the draft had been mired in controversy with some politicians, opinion leaders and religious clerics who believe they wouldn’t serve the national interest if passed into law.
Since its highly controversial rejection by the majority in the national assembly, the draft had been cast in the wilderness for three years.
Reacting to the resurrection of the draft from the dead, Ousainou Darboe of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), warned that his MPs will likely shoot it down if the new amendments made on it fly in the face of democrcy, rule of law.
UDP MPs had voted for the draft after the CRC had done its work.
