In the Gambia, members of parliament meet to restart constitutional reform process

National Assembly Members converging for a two-day induction on the resumption of the constitutional reform process have been urged to take advantage of the new opportunity to build a consensus and bring the constitutional process to fruition before the end of the year. This call was made by Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas [...] a former UN envoy for West Africa has been involved in The Gambia’s democratisation process since the change of government in 2017. [...] Chambas told Gambian parliamentarians to take cognisance of the context of events in the subregion characterised by security challenges such as military takeovers with the regional bloc Ecowas left reeling. [...] He said The Gambia should nurture the peace that prevails here so that it can be counted as peaceful, stable, young democracy in the region. “It is under this context that we must finish some of the unfinished businesses from the transition in the new Gambia,” he said. Mr Chambas said one of the remaining issues is the process of constitutional reform leading to a document that should be put to people through a referendum. He reminded the representatives that the threshold needed to achieve this is high and therefore it is incumbent on them to forge a united front to inspire the population to adopt it. [...] Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta told the meeting that the democratic transition of The Gambia has become a model for future transitional processes as acknowledged by IDEA and Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, but if democratic backsliding is to be prevented and the democratic gains of the past few years built upon, there is the urgent need to resume frank and candid conversation around the constitution building process.
Read the full article here: The Standard