{"id":46758,"date":"2023-11-09T16:10:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T16:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=46758"},"modified":"2023-11-09T15:58:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T15:58:25","slug":"national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill","title":{"rendered":"NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MISLED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS\u2019 BILL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>UDP spokesman says nature of bill makes Jammeh eligible<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson of the opposition United Democratic Party has said the National Assembly was misled by the Justice Minister on the controversial former presidents\u2019 bill which was passed with majority of the opposition members walking out.<\/p>\n<p>Almamy Fanding Taal also said though Jammeh\u2019s crimes must effectively deny him any post-presidential largesse, this bill does not prohibit him from benefiting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Justice Minister didn\u2019t rely on the laws of this country. In other countries, his action will be considered misleading the parliament. You cannot go to the National Assembly as the chief legal adviser of the government and say things on a hypothetical basis or on a hooch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Taal, a lawyer and former judge of the high court, said a relevant question to ask is whether Jammeh will benefit under the enhanced law going by the bill as drafted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe answer is a resounding yes. Jammeh is entitled to all these benefits as a former president. Modern legislatures have evolved the good governance practice of public consultations with key stakeholders before legislation is made by carving out time for comments and recommendations from the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The UDP spokesman said everyone knows Jammeh has been indicted by the Commission of Inquiry and the TRRC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA US court relied on the Janneh Commission report to forfeit his property, but unless and until you are before a court and there is a bill of indictment saying that you are accused of so and so, your rights are preserved under all the laws, especially in a new law that has all these facts before it and doesn\u2019t indict them into its own definition. I think this is very indigenous. I think the NAMs have been taken for a ride. Of course, we don\u2019t want this to be a political football, but ministers, the president, and the vice president cannot mislead the public, especially when issues like this are discussed in parliament,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, Jammeh is the only living former president, and this law is for him. If it was not, why the need for a certificate of urgency?\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n<p>Taal argued that the minority caucus of the National Assembly should consider making recommendations along this line for better laws.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMerely reacting to the agenda of the executive branch of the government, no matter how well articulated, is not a substitute for having a clear vision and the strategic thinking necessary for the transformation of our nation,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the minority caucus should consider adopting innovative strategies in the National Assembly based on the Standing Orders, the Constitution, and other laws of The Gambia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd where these are not adequate or helpful to that end, they should seek to amend them with a view to strengthening democratic governance and ensuring that the National Assembly has more autonomy of action and initiative, not just a rubber stamp House and talk shop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Taal said Jammeh must pay for his crimes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe country\u2019s transitional justice process is a bundle of contradictions because while a lot of time and money are being expended to ensure fair trials of Jammeh-era crimes, at the same time, the government is paving the way for Jammeh\u2019s return to national respectability by augmenting the terms and benefits of former presidents. It is an open secret that the Gambia has only one living past president whose heinous crimes and gross human rights violations have been laid bare by the TRRC.\u201d, Taal said.<\/p>\n<p>On the former president\u2019s party, the APRC, Taal said the party is divided and cannot stand. \u201cThe Speaker of the National Assembly is the official leader of one faction, alongside his deputy, the two played significant roles in plunging The Gambia into a political impasse in 2017. However, according to the Alliance, the other faction that won all seats in Foni is said to be closer to the dictator. So, let\u2019s be clear about this matter, APRC, in whatever permutation or combination is a district party in the West Coast Region,\u201d he chastised.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, Taal added, \u201cwhatever they are cooking up, APRC is a spent party, and its popularity should not be overestimated, especially now that the victims of 22 years of dictatorship can speak for themselves loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said as the most victimised political party of the Jammeh regime, the UDP must never condone, enable, or stay silent about the despicable crimes of the Jammeh dictatorship.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\">Gambia<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. UDP spokesman says nature of bill makes Jammeh eligible The spokesperson of the opposition United Democratic Party has said the National Assembly was misled by the Justice Minister on the controversial former presidents\u2019 bill which was passed with majority of the opposition members walking out. Almamy Fanding Taal also said though Jammeh\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":46757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,10],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-46758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-parties","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MISLED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS\u2019 BILL - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UDP spokesman says nature of bill makes Jammeh eligible The spokesperson of the opposition United Democratic Par ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MISLED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS\u2019 BILL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UDP spokesman says nature of bill makes Jammeh eligible The spokesperson of the opposition United Democratic Par ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-09T16:10:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/11\/sm_1699532864.700244.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"417\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MISLED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS\u2019 BILL\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-09T16:10:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\"},\"wordCount\":771,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/11\/sm_1699532864.700244.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/national-assembly-misled-about-former-presidents-bill\",\"name\":\"NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MISLED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS\u2019 BILL - 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