A man waves a Gambian flag as he celebrates the victory of Gambia’s opposition candidate Adama Barrow during the Presidential Elections on December 2, 2016, in Serekunda, Banjul. (Photo credit MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
Coalition 2016 was not to do business
as usual. That’s why a three-year transition, independent national assembly
members and a one-term mandate for the president were conceived.
Since those were aborted in favour of
a tactical alliance which didn’t work, there’s no other choice except to return
to the 1997 constitution to do business as usual.
Thus, the five-year term and the
right for the incumbent to seek re-election for another term, unless otherwise
provided for in new constitution to be hatched by
the constitutional review commission.
I blame it all
on those who decided to fix what wasn’t broken. Replacing Coalition 2016 with
the Tactical Alliance is what went wrong with the transition and the ushering
in of a new Gambia. We’re stuck in the past, so to speak.
Now Barrow is
charting a new way into the future. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth the
effort. He’ll deliver us from the clutches of reactionary forces.
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Coalition 2016 was not to do business as usual. That’s why a three-year transition, independent national assembly members and a one-term mandate for the president were conceived.
Since those were aborted in favour of a tactical alliance which didn’t work, there’s no other choice except to return to the 1997 constitution to do business as usual.
Thus, the five-year term and the right for the incumbent to seek re-election for another term, unless otherwise provided for in new constitution to be hatched by the constitutional review commission.
I blame it all on those who decided to fix what wasn’t broken. Replacing Coalition 2016 with the Tactical Alliance is what went wrong with the transition and the ushering in of a new Gambia. We’re stuck in the past, so to speak.
Now Barrow is charting a new way into the future. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth the effort. He’ll deliver us from the clutches of reactionary forces.
Facuru Sillah