Africa-Press – Gambia. Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, has accused the United Democratic Party (UDP) and its allied independent National Assembly Members of depriving Gambians of the opportunity to adopt a new national constitution.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay criticized the National Assembly’s recent decision to reject the 2024 draft constitution during its second reading.
“I think the opposition, the UDP plus the independents that are allied to them, deprived Gambians of the chance to get a new constitution; they should have let it pass to the next stage where negotiations will take place and let the Gambians decide,” he said.
Dr. Ceesay described the rejection as both unwarranted and unjustified, arguing that the draft deserved further deliberation.
“It is very unfair. I mean, if you are to be frank with this, there is no reason to kill this at this stage,” he said.
He further alleged that some lawmakers prioritized narrow political interests over the broader national good. “They did not look at the bigger picture; they looked at their narrow interests. They should have just let it go to the next stage, where negotiations will take place and there could be consensus there to some extent,” he added.
Addressing claims that the 2024 draft was a new constitution written by the current administration, Dr. Ceesay clarified that the document was largely based on the 2020 draft constitution, with only minor amendments resulting from consultations with key stakeholders.
“We never wrote another constitution in the cabinet; the 2024 is the 2020 draft, with minor amendments based on outcomes of the negotiations and consultations we did with all the stakeholders,” he said.
Responding to criticism that more than 120 changes were made to the 2020 draft, Dr. Ceesay dismissed the claim as misleading. Stating, “Almost 85% of the 2020 is intact in the 2024 draft. I don’t know why that 124. I don’t know which software they are using to measure that; I don’t know what, but almost 85% of it is intact.”
Dr. Ceesay also accused the UDP of adopting an inflexible stance from the outset of the constitutional review process.
“They have made it very clear from the onset that even if you remove a dot and a comma, they will not pass it. That is not how you start discussions; you need to be flexible in discussions,” he said.
While expressing support for the 2020 draft due to its progressive provisions—including presidential term limits, a 50-plus-one threshold for presidential elections, and affirmative action for women—Dr. Ceesay also noted his concerns about excessive limitations on executive authority.
“It takes so much power away from the presidency. Creating a lame-duck president in a presidential system is dangerous; you cannot even appoint or sack your ministers, and you cannot even appoint or sack an IGP of police,” he said.
Dr. Ceesay argued that the Constitutional Review Commission had overcorrected in response to the abuses of former President Yahya Jammeh’s regime.
“They did not want to create another Jammeh. Therefore, they took most all powers away from the president, and leaving a lame duck president with no powers at all to do anything,” he concluded.
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