Honourable Speaker, I came from Wuli yesterday. It was a colleague who phoned to say that the National Assembly was meeting today. If I knew that the agenda was the repeal – I hate to use the word – Decree 89, I would not have come. Let me quickly explain myself! When the honourable member for Jarra West, Honourable Kemeseng Jammeh, introduced a private member’s bill in 1999 for the abrogation of decree 89, my position was that there was no need for a bill to repeal decree 89. That position has not changed, Honourable Speaker. I still maintain that a bill to repeal Decree 89, so to speak, is superfluous. Honourable Speaker, section 4 of the 1997 constitution is very clear on the issue. The said section stipulates very clearly that any law which is inconsistent with it (the constitution) to the extent of their inconsistency it is null and void. Honourable Speaker, Decree 89 is inconsistent with the constitution because it negates citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms as stipulated in section 26 of the constitution of the second republic. Section 26 not only gives right to citizens to vote but also to stand in elections and be voted for, as well as to belong to political parties of their own choice. The president has proposed the repeal, so to speak, of the obvious Decree 89 which, for virtually five years, has flouted the authority of the constitution, the supreme law of the land, in the hope of watering yet another seed of political opportunism. Decree 89 negated various sections of the constitution, particularly sections 4 and 26. Honourable Speaker, no law can stand above the constitution. I have said it here and several occasions and I am going to state it once again, that we in this country are engaged in the process of building up a model democratic nation in terms of governance and management of the resources in the supreme interest of its supreme people. In this noble enterprise, we will not allow any political charlatans to stand on our way. If they do, the impregnable sovereign might of the Gambian people will smash them to ashes. This country is now sick and tired of political mystification of all sorts. Honourable Speaker, some members have spoken of the so-called repeal of Decree 89 as if it is that which gives right to people to belong to parties and participate in the political process of their country. It is the constitution which has given that fundamental right in its section 26 and was negated by Decree 89. As law makers, we have to be objective when we talk about issues of fundamental importance. Decree 89 banned an amorphous group of people some of whom faced commissions and were found guilty of embezzlement and were fined and consequently banned. Others never faced any commission and were banned without establishing any guilt. For instance, as far as I am aware the leaders of the political parties NCP and GPP were never taken before any commission and were banned without a prior establishment of any guilt in that regard. Honourable speaker, in the enterprise of constructing a model democratic nation without parallel anywhere in the world, obnoxious laws like Decree 89 cannot be tolerated for they serve as an impediment to the expansion of the democratic space, they are not conducive to the creation of a propitious environment for the emergence of an informed citizenry, empowered and highly motivated to assume the task of nation building. Honourable Speaker, it is never too late for reason to prevail. I am consoled that reason has now prevailed to help us forge progress ahead. Thank you very much! _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------