|
Momodou
Denmark
11833 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Nov 2006 : 15:14:59
|
Foroyaa Editoral:
When Should The President Assume Office?
At the moment there is no Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice. It is therefore difficult to know how the executive is getting legal advice. According to section 72 subsection (2) of the constitution, “The Attorney General shall be the principal legal adviser to the Government and shall have the right of audience in all courts of The Gambia.”
The Government therefore needs to give an explanation if the president is indeed to assume office on 15th December 2006. What is clear to Foroyaa is that section 63 subsection (4) of the constitution puts the term of office of the President to five years.
It reads: “The term of office of an elected president shall, subject to subsections (3) and (6), be for a term of five years…” Subsection (3) deals with impeachment of the president before the end of his or her term and subsection (6) deals with the extension of the life of parliament and the presidency for a period of up to one year during a state of emergency. Both subsections are not applicable in our current situation.
Currently we are dealing with normal assumption of the office of the president after an election.
The constitution now stipulates that the president elect shall assume office on the day the term of the incumbent president expires.
Our information is that the president assumed office on 21st December 2001. Five years after 21st December 2001 should be 21st December 2006. Foroyaa stands to be corrected. In this regard it is wrong for the president to assume office on 15th December 2006 before the expiration of his term of office.
It is important for the president to seek legal advice before taking certain actions. This is buttressed by the mistake made in dissolving the whole cabinet before the expiration of the term of office of the president.
There is provision to reshuffle cabinet before the expiration of the term of office of the president. However no provision exists for dissolving cabinet before the expiration of the term of the president.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No.98/2006, 10-12 November, 2006
|
|
Topic Locked
