Hello Sister Jabou
It is alway disheartening with this rubber stamp parliament. Amendament after amendament all aim at given the executive absolute power is all a mockery of the relevant of parliamentary democracy in our country. Gone are the days of participatory and functional democracy. It ia a military coup in 1994 now what is happening is constitutional coup. May God safe our country but all evidence are that the country is eroding to fragility.
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More evidence that we are dealing with people who have no regard for any
laws!!
I think sister Ndey Jobarteh mentioned the necessity for electoral reforms
if these were undertaken in a timely manner but one has to be dealing with
people who respect and abide by the constitution instead of people who shape the
constitution to satisfy their needs.
Written by Alhagie Jobe
Thursday, 17 August 2006
Members of the National Assembly, on Monday amended Section 63 (2) of the
1997 Constitution Bill, consitutionalising the date for the Presidential
elections in September, instead of October.
Presenting the Bill, Sheikh Tijan Hydara, Attorney-General and Secretary of
State for Justice said the new amendment proposes that the elected President
shall take the prescribed oaths and assume office on the exact day, when the
term of office for the incumbent President comes into expiration.
SoS Hydara then told the members of the National Assembly that “the only
requirement that must be satisfied is that of Section 46 of the Constitution,
which provides that elections can be held within three months, before the
expiration of the incumbent President’s term of office. With this proposed
amendment, the IEC will no longer be restricted to hold Presidential elections on a
particular date within the last three months, before the expiration of the
incumbent’s term,” he said.
SoS Hydara pointed out that this amendment to Section 63 necessitated the
amendment to Section 96 of the Constitution, adding that “the latter provides
that elections to the National Assembly shall be held three months, after the
date of the Presidential elections”.
He then observed that the proposed amendment to Section 63 indicates that Nat
ional Assembly elections may fall on the date that the “President elect
takes his or her oath of office, and also the word three in section 96 be changed
to four”. According to him, this will give provision for the National
Assembly elections to be held the following month, after the President elect takes
his, or her prescribed oaths to the office.
However, SoS Hydara noted that Section 63(1) is an entrenched clause that
must go through a “special procedure, before it is amended. This process has
commenced since April 2006 and it is now time for it to be tabled before the
National Assembly”.
To back up the amendment, Hon Sellu Bah, NAM for Basse described the Bill as
preventive to imminent “problems. It will rectify and safeguard any possible
confusion in both the Presidential and any National Assembly elections”.
Hon Halifa Sallah, NAM for Serrekunda Central said the amendment was
suggestive of an inditement made by the IEC, saying the scheduled date for the
Presidential elections is not in line with the required Section of the
Constitution. “What we are amending today reveals the shortcomings of the IEC. Today, if
we pass this Bill, then the date will be unlawfully legitimised,” he
asserted.
According to him, the IEC Code of Conduct requires fair play and integrity
in an election. “Therefore, I have every right to say that this officers are
not capable and effective. We do not need people, who do not or cannot
administer such an office like the IEC,” he said.
At this jucnture, Hon Fabakary Tombong Jatta, NAM for Serrekunda East
expressed his disappointment with the opposition bench of the National Assembly,
saying “I was expecting the opposition to congratulate Shiehk Tijan Hydara,
Secretary of State for Justice, instead of being controversial to the Bill. Is
it that the oppositions are not ready for an election, or less confident about
themselves?”
Hon Jatta asserted that the IEC was operating according to the Constitution,
adding that “if the ruling party did not complain of the scheduled date by
the IEC for the election-which really shorten the term of the incumbent
President- then I see no reason why the opposition should complain.”
He said the date did not fall in the Ramadan and during the period of heavy
rains. “This means that it satisfies everyone. No one should complain about
it,” he said.
He then impored his counterparts to “unanimously amend the Bill to ensure
that the election take place as scheduled.”
Hon Netty Baldeh, NAM of Tumana, expressed similar sentiments.
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