Banjul – Adama Barrow, re-elected President of The Gambia on Saturday, promised today (Tuesday) to introduce limits on presidential terms as part of the constitutional reform he intends to see approved by the end of his five-year term.
In response to requests from international partners, Adama Barrow, whose election in 2016 ended more than 20 years of dictatorship, guaranteed that he will work for the President to be elected by an absolute majority and, if necessary, after a second round.
Currently, the most voted candidate is elected, in a single round, regardless of the vote he achieves.
Adama Barrow, who made the announcement at his first press conference after Saturday’s election, refrained from committing to follow the recommendations of the commission charged with investigating crimes committed by the state and its agents during the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh.
In November, the commission presented a report calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Barrow assured that the decision is not up to you alone.
“I’m a big fan of term limits (…) I’m a big fan of the absolute majority,” he said.
“I assure you, the whole world and all Gambians, that we will have a new constitution, that we will have term limits and an absolute majority,” he said.
The current 1997 Constitution does not set limits on the number of mandates. The Gambia’s partners believe that essential reform is needed to contain the President’s powers and consolidate the fragile Gambian democracy.
Barrow recalled at the press meeting that an attempt at reform failed in 2020. “I guarantee we will have a new constitution before the end of my term,” he said.
“I want this project to be part of my legacy,” he added.
In September 2020, Parliament rejected a draft new constitution that established a two-term limit.
Barrow’s supporters challenged the retroactive nature of the limitation, which would have prevented him from running for a third term.
Adama Barrow did not say whether he thought the adoption of a new constitution would allow him to run again.
It was based on this assumption that the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, ran for a controversial third term in 2020, having since been overthrown in a military coup.
As for the prosecution of those responsible for crimes during the Jammeh regime, Barrow said he was in favor of this decision, but added: “It is not my decision alone.”
The decision will be taken in consultation with his government and after consulting experts, he said.
Adama Barrow has six months to make a decision on this issue.
“But there is one thing I can guarantee: justice will be done, as well as reconciliation and reparation,” he stressed.
Source: Angola Press News Agency