Africa-Press – Gambia. Businessman and political commentator Pa Njie Girijara has claimed that both President Adama Barrow, leader of the National People’s Party (NPP), and opposition leader Ousainu Darboe of the United Democratic Party (UDP) are inclined to preserve the 1997 Constitution, despite years of national efforts to replace it.
Speaking in an interview over the weekend, Girijara suggested that political expediency, rather than principle, is behind the failure to adopt a new constitution.
“The problem is very simple: to me, both Barrow and Darboe, meaning the government and UDP, prefer the 1997 constitution. That’s why they are making this constitution a ping-pong game,” Girijara said.
He argued that the 2020 draft constitution was blocked by the Barrow administration primarily because of its retroactive two-term limit clause, which would have barred the president from running beyond 2026.
“The rejection of the 2020 (Draft) constitution—everybody knows why the government and Barrow rejected it. That was the retroactive law as far as the two mandates are concerned, which the constitution only allows one more term instead of the two terms that Barrow and the government wanted. It was rejected on those bases,” he explained.
Girijara noted that the 2024 draft constitution, which closely mirrors the 2020 version but excludes the retroactive clause, was still not supported—this time, he suggested, due to opposition from Darboe and the UDP.
“Now the 2024 (Draft) constitution is a replica of the 2020 (Draft) constitution; there are not many changes, but then when I looked at the attitudes of both UDP and NPP, rejecting it by making sure that it does not pass the first round, I think, is a wish for Darboe and the UDP,” he added.
Girijara also raised concerns about the opposition’s true commitment to constitutional reforms, particularly the enforcement of a two-term presidential limit should the UDP come to power.
“The advocacy is to get to power, and when they get to power, will they want to implement the two-term limit? Yes or no? I have my doubts about that. It seems to me that if Darboe and the UDP wanted the two-term limit, they could have. I will say this time around, the CRC removed the retroactive law, and then Barrow will be in his first term. After 2026, he will not stand for election again, and that will be in 2031,” he said.
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