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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 17 Dec 2015 : 12:03:43
WHY IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH AN ISLAMIC STATE BY DECLARATION?
Foroyaa Editorial: December 16, 2015
A State has to have a Constitution. It is the 1997 Constitution which creates the Office of President, a National Assembly and a Judiciary. Section 7 of the 1997 Constitution states what should be the laws of the Gambia as follows:
In addition to this Constitution, the laws of The Gambia consist of –
(a) Acts of the National Assembly made under this Constitution and subsidiary legislation made under such Acts;
(b) any orders, rules, regulations subsidiary legislation made by a authority under a power conferred Constitution or any other law;
( c) the existing laws including all decrees passed by the armed forces Provisional Ruling Council;
(d) the common law and principles of equity;
(e) Customary law so far as concerns members of the communities to which it applies;
(f) the sharia as regards mattes of marriage, divorce and inheritance among members of the communities to which it applies.
The Constitution of an Islamic Republic must indicate the basis of the laws of the state. Section 26 (a) and (b) of the 1997 Constitution gives the following rights to every Gambian irrespective of religion:
Every citizen of The Gambia of full age and capacity shall have the right, without unreasonable restrictions –
(a) to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;
(b) to vote and stand for elections at genuine periodic elections for public office, which elections shall be by universal and equal suffrage and be held by secret ballot;
Section 62 of the 1997 Constitution establishes the qualifications for the Office of President. Nothing bars any one from being President because of religion. Hence a Christian or Muslim could be President. The Constitution of an Islamic Republic should state whether the office of President could be occupied by a Christian.
Section 89 of the 1997 Constitution establishes the criteria for becoming a National Assembly member. Both Christians and Muslims could become members.
Sections 138 and 139 of the Constitution deals with the qualification to hold the Office of Judge. One has to be qualified to hold the position of judge of the Supreme Court or court of appeal or high court in a common law country to be appointed Chief Justice, Judge of the Court of Appeal or High Court judge respectively. Religion does not matter. What will be the criteria for holding such posts in an Islamic Republic?
Only a constitution could address such issues. That constitution does not exist. Why declare an Islamic Republic?
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 24 Dec 2015 : 12:16:17
IS THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL DECLARATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF AN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC A NATIONAL ISSUE OR A PARTISAN ISSUE? ALL CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD BE CONCERNED
Foroyaa Editorial: December 23, 2015
There are some issues which are matters between the opposition and the ruling party, but there are other issues which are between the citizens and the executive. The declaration of the President in Brufut is one of those issues.
It came like a dream to many Gambians and provoked shock to many before the matter received the desired clarification.
Foroyaa would like to emphasise that this matter is beyond partisan consideration. Hence those who speak on the subject should help every person to understand the implication of the declaration.
A Constitution is a fundamental law of a country. It is not an instrument whose provisions could be written from a political platform. The executive has no authority whatsoever to add or delete a single phrase in the Constitution. The President has the duty to protect and defend every provision of the Constitution. Hence, people from Kartong to Koina and Barra to Palody should know that the declaration of the President is his wish but has no legal foundation and is therefore null and void.
This message should be passed on to all Gambians irrespective of party affiliation.
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| Nyarikangbanna |
Posted - 19 Dec 2015 : 16:46:19
STATEMENT BY THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY ON THE PROCLAMATION OF AN ISLAMIC STATE BY PRESIDENT YAHYA JAMMEH
At the end of his political campaign, under the guise of complying with one of the codes of conduct prescribed by Section 222 of the Gambia Constitution, the President Yaya Jammeh “proclaimed” The Gambia as an Islamic State. The purported proclamation is not a surprise to the United Democratic Party as President Jammeh has on several occasions paraded himself as the champion for Islam. He has also in the past made ill advised and ill-considered statements with far reaching adverse consequences.
The proclamation made in the village of Brufut is not only ill-considered and ill-advised but is also unconstitutional and a usurpation of the functions of the National Assembly. Section 1 of the Constitution declares The Gambia as a sovereign Secular Republic. This section of the Constitution is an entrenched provision. Like all other entrenched provisions of the Constitution, Section 1 came into being by the Constitution of The Gambia Promulgation Order 1997 passed by the National Assembly on 16th January 1997.
The only authority that has the constitutional mandate to amend or repeal a provision of the Constitution is the National Assembly of The Gambia in the exercise of its legislative powers. Even then, the National Assembly, with its plenary legislative powers, cannot amend or repeal any entrenched provision of the Constitution to make The Gambia an Islamic State, as section 100 (2) of the Constitution prohibits the National Assembly from doing so. This Section 100(2) states in very clear language that:
“The National Assembly shall not pass a Bill:-
a. to establish a one party state;
b. to establish any religion as a state religion.
To proclaim The Gambia an Islamic State therefore, is tantamount to establishing Islam as State religion which is unconstitutional and illegal.
Secondly, Section 100 as an entrenched provision which, like Section 1, cannot be altered without a referendum after other parliamentary procedures have been complied with.
The proclamation at Brufut is therefore, a willful flagrant violation by the President of his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution as the supreme law of The Gambia. Willful violation of any provision of the Constitution constitutes misconduct by the President and the members of the National Assembly should, in keeping with their oath of office, invoke Section 67 (2) of the Constitution for the removal of the President from office.
The proclamation is also an attempt by the President to abrogate Section 1 of the Constitution. Such an attempt is, by Section 6(1) of the Constitution, treason. Section 6(1) of the Constitution states that:-
“Any person who
a. by himself or herself in concert with others, by any violent or other unlawful means, suspends or overthrows or abrogates this Constitution or any part of it, or attempts to do any such act, or;
b. aids and abets in any manner any person referred in paragraph (a)
commits the offence of treason……………….”.
The proclamation is ill-considered and ill-advised because the President has not adverted his mind to the impact it will have on the general governance structure.
Will Gambia continue to operate the present legal system in an Islamic State? Will the financial institutions, save for Arab-Gambian Islamic Bank and Takaful Insurance Company, continue to operate the same way as they do at present, in Jammeh’s Islamic State? What about the National Assembly, the Judiciary and the Civil Service? What is the position of the non-Islamic religions in the Gambia which have for over hundred years coexisted in peace and perfect harmony with Islam and have made immense contribution to the education, health and other sectors of Gambian life?
The reason for proclaiming Gambia as an Islamic State exposes the contradiction and paradoxes in Jammeh’s crusade to wipe out what he calls the “vestiges and relics of colonialism”. Interestingly, whilst he chides the colonialists for leaving us with only a neck tie, he has great admiration and craving for some of the trappings and relics of colonialism that boost his ego. Does the President not know that the presence of the judges of the superior courts in their ceremonial robes and wigs at “the State opening of the legislative year” is a relic of colonialism? Does he not know that this is what happens in the British Parliament when Her Majesty the Queen delivers the speech from the throne? All the Law Lords attend the occasion. In the same way, he gets all the judges of the superior courts attend his State opening of the National Assembly. Why does not President Jammeh consider this event as a “relic of colonialism” unworthy of emulation? Just on Friday 14th December, the judges of the superior courts were at the National Assembly to grace the occasion of the presentation of the budget by the Minister of Finance. Another relic of colonialism. The “relics of colonialism” in the Gambia are legion.
The United Democratic Party believes that Jammeh’s obsession with colonialism is nothing but a ploy to divert the attention of the Gambian people from his failed policies. We will not be distracted. We will continue to ask why the economy is performing so badly; we will continue to ask why our youths are perishing in the Sahara Desert and in the Mediterranean Sea; we will continue to ask why the constitution and other laws are violated with impunity; we will continue to ask why you President Jammeh by your own utterances treat our women folk with contempt and disdain.
The UDP leader in an interview with AFP on this proclamation made it clear that the United Democratic Party will resist the implementation of any proclamation or other directive that are inconsistent with the Constitution. The United Democratic Party will, as it has done in the past, challenge the unconstitutionality of such proclamations/directives and give full effect to the words in the National Anthem “that all may live in unity ………...and join our diverse people to prove man’s brotherhood”.
Long live the Secular Republic of The Gambia
UDP Secretariat |
| Momodou |
Posted - 17 Dec 2015 : 12:06:03
MR PRESIDENT THE IMPOSSIBLE IS IMPOSSIBLE OUR HUMBLE ADVICE IS FOR YOU TO DROP THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC IDEA
Foroyaa Editorial: December 16, 2015
Let us make it loud and clear that the valid constitution of the Gambia is the 1997 constitution which establishes a Sovereign Republic under which Sovereignty resides in the people. No constitution exists in the Gambia which has made Gambia an Islamic state.
The only option the President has is to overthrow the 1997 Constitution and put into force a new Constitution which makes the Gambia an Islamic Republic. Everyone knows that such a development is impossible. This is why we assert that the impossible is impossible.
Citizens should now ask anybody who says that the Gambia is an Islamic Republic to produce the Constitution of an Islamic Republic. If they fail to do so you should then ask how you could have a state without a Constitution.
Without a Constitution which establishes Gambia as an Islamic Republic then any declaration to that effect is chaff in the wind.
Source: http://www.foroyaa.gm/archives/8584 |
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