By Omar Bah
The Gambia civil society organisations have strongly urged President Adama Barrow, International Idea and former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan to ensure transparency, participation, inclusion and national consensus on the dialogue to revive the draft constitution.
In September, Gambian lawmakers rejected a draft constitution to replace the 1997 Constitution. About 31 National Assembly Members voted in favour of the bill to be passed while 23 members rejected the draft.
The Barrow government then turned to mediation specialists and former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan to find consensus on the draft constitution ahead of its planned return to the National Assembly.
But Mr Jonathan’s first attempt to find consensus in three days of intensive discussions with the country’s political parties ended in a deadlock. The former Nigerian leader is expected to return to the country in January to continue the mediations.
Presidential term limits, retirement benefits for judges, the low threshold for the impeachment of the president, confirmation of ministers before the National Assembly, citizenship and the justiciability of economic rights leading to floodgates in litigation were the points the executive wanted to be amended in the constitution.
The CSOs last Thursday after meeting both International Idea and Goodluck Jonathan convened a press conference to state their position on the ongoing dialogue-seeking consensus over the rejected draft constitution.
“We welcome the government’s decision to revive the final draft constitution through a national consensus building process. We demand transparency and accountability of this process which will be the basis of our participation. We want the process to be guided by the highest ideals of sincerity, honesty and commitment to the national interest by all stakeholders,” the CSOs said in a statement read by TANGO chairman Charles John Njie.
Njie said the civil society will not hesitate to take all and every necessary legitimate and lawful democratic action to guarantee and protect the sanctity of a constitution that upholds the destiny of “our motherland”.
Njie said the civil society is concerned about the process and its outcome, “Our concern was born out of the engagements we had with the international Idea on Monday 14 December and with Goodluck Jonathan on 18 December.”
“We hold that the government, International Idea and Goodluck Jonathan cannot take CSOs as stakeholders and yet fail to avail us with issues and option documents which was purportedly prepared to guide the dialogue. As critical stakeholders in the process – we are yet to avail the opportunity to meaningfully partake in the political dialogue initiated by the government,” he said.
Njie stressed that the inclusion and participation of the CSOs as non-partisan entity is urgent, legitimate and critical to the building of meaningful political consensus.
“It will protect the legitimacy and integrity of the process and uphold the best interest of the citizenry,” he added.
The CSOs, who expressed disappointment over the government’s lack of personate, drive to defend the bill it has sponsored at the National Assembly said the draft bill was rejected without a substantive debate on its substance provisions.
“We recommended that the new draft constitution must uphold and guarantee the fundamental rights and freedom of all Gambians including justiciable social economic rights, Gambia as a sovereign republic, unequivocally set presidential term-limits to ensure no president serves beyond the two term mandate to prevent self-perpetuating rule, create adequate checks and balances to restrain power to ensure transparency and accountability and efficiency of public institutions and prevent abuse of office, ensure the National Assembly as the people’s representation has all the necessary powers to check the executives and all structures of the state to ensure that they adhere to the rule of law, perform their functions efficiently and effectively and prevent corruption, create and guarantee the Secularity of the state in which the state will have the due obligation to protect the rights of all citizens, freedoms of beliefs and worship, ensure a credible electoral process,” he outlined.
