Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis
By Landing Ceesay
The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis, is impressed with the current state of The Gambia’s electoral process.
Dr Tunis shared his impression at the tail of a weeklong pre-election fact-finding mission in Banjul.
During the fact-finding mission, he had engagements with key stakeholders in the Gambia’s elections such as the Independent Electoral Commission, political parties and the civil society organisations.
“I am very much impressed with the way Gambia’s electoral process is going so far. We are also very grateful to the ECOWAS Commission for providing resources up to $500, 000 to the government as our support to the electoral process of the Gambia,” Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis told the press on Thursday.
Speaker Tunis is captivated by the commitment taken by the political parties to ensure a peaceful election in the Gambia.
“I am also very happy that the political parties have taken a commitment to ensure that we have a very peaceful process. In my meeting with them, they have assured me that they will do everything possible to make sure that we have a peaceful election. Our vision as a parliament is to see a free, fair and transparent election, devoid of any harassment and to ensure that we have a very peaceful Democratic transition,” he said.
The speaker of the regional bloc parliament also expressed his happiness with the support the country’s electoral commission is getting from the government.
“I am very happy with the support that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is getting so far from the government; because when we met with them they assured us and confirmed to us that they have prepared the budget and it has been approved by the government and that government has started the disbursement of that budget. So we are very happy and we are very thankful to President Barrow and his government for the support they are giving to the people of this country by supporting the IEC,” Speaker Tunis said.
The Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States made these remarks at a press briefing on Thursday at the National Assembly in Banjul.
Dr Sidie Mohamed Tunis is a Sierra Leonean and a Member of the Sierra Leonean Parliament is the Speaker of the fifth Legislature ECOWAS Parliament.
As the speaker, Dr Sidie directs the business of the Parliament and its organs; presides over all proceedings of plenary, bureau and conference of Committee Bureaux and conducts the debates of those bodies in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure; and ensures regular interactions between the Parliament and national parliaments of Member States, according to Chapter IV, Article 24 (2) of the Supplementary Act Relating to the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament on the Parliament’s website.
The ECOWAS Parliament, also called the Community Parliament was established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993.
It is one of the Institutions of the regional bloc with the Assembly of Peoples of the Community serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation and consensus for Representatives of the people of West Africa with the aim of promoting regional integration.