Gambian lawmakers have summoned Vice President, Dr Isatou Touray to explain President Adama Bartow’s Tuesday declaration of state of public emergency.

Proposing the summon motion, Serrekunda MP Halifa Sallah said: “I humbly move that this August body summons the Vice President to come and answer three fundamental questions: Why the motion for an extension of the State of Public Emergency for period 45 days with effect from Wednesday, 1st July 2020 as per the order paper of 30th June 2020, was withdrawn?”

“Has a State of Public Emergency been declared since the National Assembly commence session? If so when was it declared and under what authority?

“What Emergency powers Regulations are currently in force and under what authority? How the executive computes time to determine the expiry date of each of the declaration of state of public emergency since 18th March 2020?” he said.

He said section 34 of the Constitution empowers the president to declare a state of public emergency, adding such declaration must have expiration date in which Subsection 2 indicates the expiration period of the declaration of Public Emergency.

He added: “A declaration made under this section shall lapse at the expiration of a period of seven days, or if the National Assembly is not then in session twenty- one days, beginning on the day on which the Proclamation is published in the Gazette unless, before the expiration of that period, it has been approved by a resolution of the National Assembly supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members thereof.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba