(JollofNews)- Halifa Sallah and his media Cheer-Leaders (mainly US-based Pa Nderry Mbai and his Freedom newspaper) continue to distract Gambians and Friends of The Gambia from the urgent tasks of nation-building and peace-building that faces post-Jammeh Gambia.
On the issue of “Barrow’s 3-Year Mandate” it has been said that Halifa Sallah is in “TOTALLY IN DENIAL”. I Agree.
And, I would add, Halifa is also being utterly HYPOCRITICAL for a man who has made “Constitution, Constitution, Constitution” his MANTRA over the last 30 years.
So, let us state it concisely and clearly for Hon Halifa Sallah:
1. The “3-Year Presidential Mandate” was a private contract between parties who have now fallen out and disengaged on the just concluded NAM elections issue. The reasons why the Coalition contract between the parties fell apart is a private matter between the parties. The public were never a party to that private contract – nor did the public validate that contract through a referendum as required by the constitution of the Republic of The Gambia.
2. Section 63(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia states that “the term of office of an elected president shall … be for a term of five years”.
This raises the following questions:
a) Why should Halifa sign a 3-year Presidential term agreement that he, Halifa himself, now ACKNOWLEDGES as being UNconstitutional? Halifa never misses an opportunity to chide anyone for even the most minor infringement of the Constitution. Halifa should now take his own medicine – and chide himself (and stop fanning political bickering just to try and convince the public that he was the good guy and the others were the bad guys. As with Mel-B here in London this week, the marriage is dead and the washing of dirty linen in public is unedifying. Just accept that the marriage is dead – and move on!). What is more, Halifa is flogging a dead horse on the “Coalition” issue – because the public have already decided by voting 4 seats (7%) for PDOIS – and 31 seats (58%) for UDP.
b) Why should the Barrow government embark on a fundamental constitutional change – and the required referendum – just to shorten this President’s term to three years when the Barrow government feels that there are more important matters of nation building to attend to in the next five years?
c) Why should Lawyer Darboe’s UDP waste valuable time on a “3-year Presidential term” amendment that needs an expensive and time-consuming nationwide referendum when there is so much work to be done?
d) What about after the 3-years? Will Gambians have to amend the Constitution again to return to a 5-year presidential term – and have a referendum again to approve that 5-year amendment?
THE UDP, PRESIDENT BARROW AND MOST GAMBIANS HAVE MOVED ONTO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS OF CONCERN TO THE MAJORITY OF GAMBIANS – MATTERS SUCH AS HOW TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE FOR THEIR FAMILIES.
As in the children’s story of “The Boy Who Always Cried ‘WOLF’”, Halifa Sallah and Pa Nderry Mbai run the risk of being ignored – when they do actually sometimes have important messages. But I suppose they are BOTH PROFESSIONAL “WOLF-CRIERS” and will continue to do so!
Long Live Freedom of Speech!
(But not for my opponents, as Halifa’s FOROYAA would have it. In 25 years of reading Gambian media, I have never read a PDOIS/HALIFA-contradicting opinion in FOROYAA. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Halifa and Foraya/
Why contradict someone who has made a career of being right ?
The Constitution is the backbone of the Nation.
It cannot be dismissed because it may appear inconvenient to some. I really do wish people would stop making unfounded personal attacks against men of principal. Surely to God we can debate in peace and investigate and give fair and balanced opinion. Or is that too much to ask ?
My in law, I think you have seriously erred here, but first, let’s address the issue of the “private contract”. Is the “private contract” still binding ? Well, if the views of the people you align yourself with are anything to go by, then yes, it is still binding, because they hold the view that the “private contract” only covers the Presidential Elections. Therefore, the falling out at the NA Elections has no effect on the “private contract.”
It may be a “private contract” or a gentleman’s agreement (as Hon Halifa called it) that has no force of law, but it does raise questions of trustworthiness, doesn’t it ? How could a man, who sanctified a contract (private or not) with his signature be trusted, if he fails to honour the contract ?
Is the 3 year transition term limit unconstitutional ? Absolutely not, and I will be interested to see where Hon Halifa said so.
Indeed, the term of the President, at Section 63 (1) is set at 5 years, but this is subject to subsections (3) & (6), which deals with the “vote of no confidence” and the “extension of the term of office”. So, a president may leave office before his/her term expires or may stay beyond the expiry date.
Section 65, which deals with the vacancy of the office of the president, states at subsection (2) what happens when the office of president becomes vacant.
It states that the Vice President, and where there is no Vice President, the Speaker,”Shall assume the Office of the President for the residue of the term of the former President.”
Now, here is where you erred my in law. There is no need for a referendum here. If President Barrow wants to honour the “private contract” and be seen by the entire world as a trustworthy man of honour, all he needs to do is to amend subsection (2) of Section 65, to make it mandatory for the Vice President/Speaker, to hold elections 3 months after assuming office, if the residual term of former President exceeds 3 moths, rather than hold office for the residue of the term of former President.
We all know that Section 68 (4) was amended to allow the President to engage in Agricultural activities that have elements of business in them, without any referendum. So, it can be done if the political will is there.
I do not think Hon Sallah will raise a single dust cloud if President Barrow decides to enjoy the full term of his legitimate constitutional mandate. He (Hon. Sallah) has stated already that if President decides to complete his 5 year mandate, that will be the end of the 3 year agreement. There is no need to go to court, he said. He also said that if the NA still passes to amend subsection (2) of Section 65, the President can even refuse to accent to the bill, thus stopping it from becoming law.
So, let’s not lose sleep over what Hon. Sallah will do, if President Barrow decides to complete his 5 years. He is fully focused on the monumental task of mapping out a genuine democratic path for The Gambian nation.
Pa Nderry is a different matter, but he is only doing what he’s always done. Only that this time, the shoe is on the other foot and his fan base has shifted accordingly.
What you missed in the three year term limit is that Halifa is not the only party to the contract. Instead of Halifa talking to coalition partners in a professional way he is acting like a clown. How many missteps he had done since after the impasse? what is he trying to achieve by misinforming the public? Halifa is one out of eight in coalition agreement, why would he think his narrative should be respected? Halifa should do the public a favour and publish the coalition agreement so that public can be the judge themselves. Halifa wants to ‘blue pencil test’ the coalition agreement and the constitution on his own.
Any agreement /contract to commit legal wrong or is contrary to the constitution is void/illegal at common law and by statute. As stated in Holman v Johnson – it is a principle of public policy that no court will lend it aid to a man who founds his cause of action upon an immoral or illegal act. Halifa has already acknowledged that it is a gentleman agreement, means he knows that it cannot be enforce in a court of law. What I want to know from Halifa is whether it is not an agreement for every party to take position in the cabinet?
Halifa, we want ideas how to build that country but not arguing things that does not matter. The Gambia’s economy is at it’s lowest, so bring ideas that can put the economy back on track.
My in-law, I am a Socialist with a capital S. If Hon Halifa Sallah addressed Socialist issues of concern to the common man, I would be with him: Food, Education, Health, Jobs, Agricultural Support for the poor farmers – those are the issues I am interest in. Halifa is not talking of any of that, but I hear OJ talking about giving free fertilizer and seeds to the farmers. I like that. I gave Amie Sillah a Centre-Spread in a Daily Observer issue on Agriculture – and my last Front-Page (published while I was under arrest) was on Agricultural. Let us forget the politics and improve people’s lives. Peace, Brav (when are you gonna chill with me in my Cassava garden?)
But to improve people’s lives is politics!
If it weren’t, we wouldn’t need politics at all.
True, absolutely true.
OJ is in the Executive, which is tasked with resource management and policy implementation. Halifa is in the Legislature, which is charged with legislation and supervision.
You may be aware that Halifa’s (PDOIS) policies to help farmers goes far beyond free fertiliser and seeds, but until Gambians entrust him with the mandate to manage their resources, as President, he can’t do what he wants to do.
I love cassava (not “ebbeh” ) and you never know.
Gotcha again, my in-law! Why did Halifa REFUSE to be in the Executive? That would have enabled him, like OJ, to help the people. Of course not “ebbeh” – the “sweet” one!
Simple, because Halifa wouldn’t be able to implement his Socialist policies. He will only be able to implement Barrow’s Neo-liberal policies because Barrow comes from a Neo-liberal background, like OJ, Darboe, Bah & Fatty. And you know, I think Halifa would rather retire from politics, than implement Neoliberal policies on The Gambian People.
Bax, we finally TOTALLY agree: Bax “Simple, because Halifa wouldn’t be able to implement his Socialist policies. He will only be able to implement Barrow’s Neo-liberal policies because Barrow comes from a Neo-liberal background, like OJ, Darboe, Bah & Fatty. And you know, I think Halifa would rather retire from politics, than implement Neoliberal policies on The Gambian People.”
WHY DOESN’T HALIFA TALK AS STRAIGHT AS YOU DO?