Hon. Sallah Recommends Dissolving Legislature if They Fail to Take Ownership of Constitution

Hon Halifa Sallah © Asaknwi

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

Former Parliamentarian for Serrekunda, Hon. Halifa Sallah, the leader of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), held a press conference on the 8th of January 2025 urging members of the Sixth Legislature to take ownership of the Constitution Building process and to “axe” and “mould” the Constitution into a bill fit for purpose.

A former member of the Fifth Legislature who voted for the Constitution to pass the second reading on 22nd September 2022, Hon. Sallah was trumped up by his colleagues as the bill failed to secure three-quarters of the votes required to pass the second reading and be committed to the committee stage for further consultation with the Gambian people.

Speaking at his party headquarters in Churchill's Town, Hon. Sallah enthused, “If the maker of the law says that he cannot make the law, then Gambia is in trouble. If the maker of the law is not ready to make the law, then Gambia is in trouble. Then dissolve your legislature and know that it’s not fit for purpose”.

Urging the Gambian people to pay close attention to the Constitution Building process, Hon. Sallah highlighted that “2026 is not far away. If the population truly, truly are convinced that they want a Constitution that is fit for purpose and they know the content they want in that Constitution. They know how they want to be governed. Then they will deal with anybody who does not want to give them a constitution that is fit for purpose”.

Media at the Press Conference © Askanwi

Although Hon. Sallah was outnumbered as the Fifth Legislature rejected the 2020 Draft Constitution in September 2022, he still believes that the 2024 Draft Constitution is an “opportunity we have that we never had, for the nation to engage in consultation in order to prepare for a new republic [that] must not at all be lost”.

According to Hon. Sallah, even people “can all say what we wish about consultation, non-consultation, the Barrow’s Bill, and the Cabinet’s Bill. We can call it by any name. But no Gambian who understands the rights of citizens and the duty of the National Assembly would say that the President has the power to impose provisions of a Constitution on a nation or a National Assembly”.

“The President and his executive can have their intentions but are mere intentions. They can only propose. Now that Bill has been introduced, as required in the first reading, the next phase is what is crucial,” the passionate PDOIS leader enthused.

“We have elected lawmakers. Should they whine that the executive has done its volition and brought whatever constitutional draft as a bill to them as it wishes? Should they query about that? That’s the volition of the executive. But now power belongs to the National Assembly members. They now have the power to axe what that executive brings and mould it into what they believe is [in] the interest of the people if they are really there for the people. It is now their duty to do that. But they cannot do that until the bill passes the second reading. Because the power they have is after the second reading; if it is passed, they still have the power to throw it at the third reading if they so desire” noted Hon. Sallah.

High Table addressing the media © Askanwi

After the second reading, Hon. Sallah is recommending nationwide consultation. “When it goes to the committee stage, their duty is to consult the Gambian people. They should have public hearings inside and outside the National Assembly from Kartong to Koina, Barra to Paloli to listen [to] what the people have to say about each of those provisions that the Executive proposes. They have the might and authority to dismantle everything that the executive puts in his proposal. But a three-quarters majority is the threshold, and this is what the debate is all about” opined the former parliamentarian.

He added that members of the sixth legislature “can look at each provision, they can agree and disagree, [and] if they see that the disagreement does not ultimately allow them to have the three-quarter threshold in the third reading, well, the nation will know who was against what and who did what, who is to be blamed for what”.

Speaking on the lawmaking process, he reminded the audience that “the lawmakers are the crafters of law. The executive is not the maker of the law or the builder of the law. The National Assembly members are part of the makers of the law because finally, it is the people through a referendum who become the real makers, the ultimate makers of the constitution”.