Africa-Press – Gambia. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, on Tuesday adjourned the parliamentary sitting after a lack of quorum, caused by the late arrival of several lawmakers, forced the session to be postponed to the following day.
During the brief proceedings, Hon. Samba Jallow, Member for Niamina Dankunku, expressed frustration over the recurring quorum issues, noting that members often keep the Speaker waiting for extended periods. He criticized lawmakers for failing to adhere to the Assembly’s Standing Orders.
“Honorable speaker, this issue of quorum has been lingering in this assembly since the 5th legislature started. You have been sitting in that chair negotiating. All the time you sit in your office for more than one and a half hours waiting for members. This time is stipulated in our standing orders; it is our own rule. If we are not respecting our own rules, who will respect us?” Hon. Jallow said.
Similarly, Hon. Sainey Jawara, Member for Lower Saloum, urged the Speaker to strictly enforce the rules, emphasizing that members should not remain at home despite having government vehicles.
“Honorable Speaker, you have to take the bull by the horn because yesterday you were trying to give us that room, but members don’t want to understand. They want to shift the blame to you. Take the rules of our standing orders and suspend them. That is the best thing to do; members should not be sitting at home when they have vehicles,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hon. Alhagie Mbowe, Member for Upper Saloum, cautioned against rigid application of the rules that could hinder parliamentary work. He highlighted that the Standing Orders provide some discretion for the Speaker regarding quorum delays.
“Our own rules are not meant to be so rigid that they would lead us not to be able to transact business in the Parliament. If you look at the Standing Orders on quorum, towards the end it tells you that after the expiration of two minutes, if one half of the members are not present, the Speaker shall defer the commencement to a later time not exceeding one hour. So there is discretion on you now. If you can defer for one hour, I think we can call one another and then continue the business,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hon. Alhagie Mbowe, Member for Upper Saloum, cautioned against rigid application of the rules that could hinder parliamentary work. He highlighted that the Standing Orders provide some discretion for the Speaker regarding quorum delays.
“I have listened to some of you; from what I gather, we should try to be punctual, basically. But the law provides that in the absence of a quorum, I can adjourn to a later time not exceeding one hour or to another date. These are the two options, and I want us to learn the lesson because this thing has been on,” he said, adding, “I don’t want us to adjourn until 30 minutes or one hour. If I am adjourning, I will adjourn to the next day so that we all know things have fallen apart. That is where we are, and we need to do better. In these circumstances, I think I will adjourn to tomorrow, 3rd December 2025, at 10 am prompt,” He Said.
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