Hamjatta,

Have you read my memorandum to the Constitutional Review Commission? What
process did the Constitutional Review Commission take in order to come up
with a draft? Did they not invite the whole nation to send their views? Have
all my views been reflected in the draft constitution? If you had read my
memorandum, I am sure the answer will be in the negative.

Similarly, if you witnessed the debate among the members of the Bar
Association on the proposals they were to send to the CRC and the rampant
disagreement among them, you would have come to the conclusion that no one
person's view can ever be reflected in totality in a constitution. I believe
if you want to judge what constitutional framework I had in mind for The
Gambia, you would have to do a critique of the memorandum I addressed to the
CRC. This is the first point.

The draft constitution, which was submitted to the Gambian people, contained
the proposals of diverse interests, including the interest of those who held
power. Hence, the document could not be said to reflect in totality the
views of any one Gambian. There were things that each one would support or
oppose. What was before the Gambian people, therefore, was not a perfect
document that could have been acceptable to all in its entirety, but a
document which had to be considered as an instrument that was to guide the
governance as we moved towards a constitutional order.

I have said and I will repeat again, that constitutional order could not be
restored without a constitution. Hence, the Gambian people had the option of
calling for the restoration of the 1970 Constitution or adopt a Second
Republican Constitution. I have argued that the Second Republican
Constitution, with all its flaws, has basically the same weakness as the
1970 Constitution but has provisions which are more advantageous for the
empowerment of the people than the 1970 Constitution. Apparently, you agreed
with this postulate.

What I cannot understand is your position. Are you saying that people should
have voted 'no' to reject the draft constitution? If so, how would we have
restored constitutional rule against the will of the AFPRC whilst they were
still in power? I will pause for your reply.

Halifa Sallah.

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