By Buba Gagigo
The Gambia government has gazetted a Draft Constitution, which will be presented to the National Assembly after a mandatory three-month waiting period. A significant amendment in the gazetted version is the removal of a provision from Schedule 5 of the Draft Constitution prepared by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), a change that opens the door for President Adama Barrow to potentially seek a third and even fourth term in office.
This week, the government announced that after a thorough review of the Draft Constitution, which was initially presented by the CRC on March 30, 2020, it decided to re-gazette the document. The next step is its formal presentation to the National Assembly.
Section 5 of Schedule Five in the Draft Constitution, as initially proposed, addressed the term of office for the incumbent president. It contained two clauses:
1.” The person duly elected President of The Gambia prior to the effective date and serving in office as at the effective date shall be the first President of the Third Republic of The Gambia and shall continue to hold the Office of President in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”
2. “Notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution or any other law or any rule of interpretation or rule of construction, the term of office of the person holding the Office of President as at the effective date shall be construed to include the existing term, and the person may contest election for the Presidency for only one more term as provided in this Constitution after the expiry of the existing term.”
The gazetted draft Constitution set to be presented before the National Assembly has been revised, with subsection 2 removed, leaving only subsection 1.
This modification effectively allows the sitting President, at the time the new constitution is implemented, to complete his current term and seek re-election for two terms in accordance with the constitution. This applies regardless of any two-term limits established by the new constitution, as his previous terms would possibly not be counted towards the term limit.
President Barrow has already announced his intention to run in the 2026 election. Meanwhile, United Democratic Party leader Ousainu Darboe has stated that his party opposes any changes to the original CRC draft. With the UDP holding a significant number of seats in the National Assembly, their collective opposition could jeopardize the bill’s passage in the National Assembly.