The majority of members of Gambia’s national assembly have rejected the draft constitution which was tabled before it with new amendments including term limits for the presidency.
MPs while putting forth both sides of the argument during Monday’s second reading voted against the Promulgation Bill 2024 which contained several amendments to a previous constitutional draft which was also rejected by the assembly.
Three-quarters or 44 votes were required from the 58-member National Assembly for it to proceed to the third reading but fell short with 35 MPs voting in favour while 21 voted against it proceeding to the next stage.
This means that the Bill will not make it to a third reading.
It was championed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dawda A. Jallow in a bid to repeal the current constitution with a view to replacing it with an updated one.
The body of laws in use has been in force since 1997 following the return to elections after a coup by former President Yahya Jammeh who suspended the 1970 constitution and ruled by decrees for the next two years.
In a statement shortly after the vote, the government through the justice ministry described it as a setback in its bid to expedite constitutional reforms in The Gambia.
It promised that more efforts will be expended towards realising the government’s stated goals of instituting legislative reforms to strengthen democracy in The Gambia and further the cause of transitional justice.
This will be in pursuance of the mandate of the constitutional review commission which was set up to craft a new constitution that suits the demands of the rule of law.
Following more than a year of extensive consultations with Gambians based at home and other based abroad, a new draft constitution which would have limited the powers of members of the executive arm of government including the president.
WN/as/APA