The Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Minister of Information have held radio interviews and a press conference to try to convince the public that the Barrow Administration did consult stakeholders on its Draft Constitution. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice need to do fact check on the subject matter in order to give accurate information to the public.
Foroyaa would like to clarify the issue that the issue of consultation should not be the preoccupation of the nation at this time.
First and foremost, the CRC Draft Constitution did not pass the second reading at the National Assembly because of the failure to get three quarters majority to allow it to pass to the committee stage. The National Assembly members who voted for the Bill to pass to the committee stage were concerned with the principles and objects of the Bill, not the content. This should be clear to the public.
Many people feel that there were many amendments to the 1997 Constitution, thus giving reasons why it should be replaced. It is such reasons that are debated and voted for during the second reading.
Hence one can agree with the reasons for promulgating a new constitution without agreeing with the content of the draft constitution. It is at the committee stage that members of the National Assembly, subject matter specialists and special interest groups could scrutinise the content. This is the first point.
Secondly, when a matter is rejected by the National Assembly, it cannot be brought back to the National Assembly unless its previous rejection is revoked.
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Readers would recall that Halifa Sallah did initiate a motion for the Speaker to allow the process of revoking the earlier decision of blocking the promulgation process of the CRC Draft Constitution at the second reading, but did not get the consent of the Speaker. Readers would equally remember that when the government invited International IDEA to initiate consultation presided over by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, Halifa Sallah and PDOIS decided not to participate in any of the discussions because of the argument that the CRC Draft Constitution was dead.
Halifa Sallah repeatedly said that the discussion was a waste of time. Foroyaa has published two supplements which contain analyses and recommendations on the constitution building process which are still available for readers.
The Barrow Administration did not implement the proposals made in these publications. Foroyaa has also reached out to Halifa Sallah to get his comment on the claim that the only consultative meeting he did not attend is the one held in Abuja.
He confirmed that neither he nor PDOIS had attended any consultative meeting held by Goodluck Jonathan either in the Gambia or Nigeria because of their futility. He indicated that he attended only one meeting convened under the chairmanship of the former head of UNOWAS, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, to tell them that the CRC Draft Constitution was dead and that section 226 would have to be complied with in order for a Draft Constitution to be brought back to the National Assembly. He told them that the executive would have to establish a consultative committee that would rely on the CRC text as a working document to get the views of all stakeholders after educating the whole nation on the content. He said that, that was the only meeting that he attended to make it clear that the endless meetings were a waste of time.
