FOROYAA Issue No.2/2002 15 – 20 January, 2002 Editorial The President And The National Assembly The announcement of a presidential tour to campaign for APRC candidates came as a surprise to many since the APRC now has 33 seats in the National Assembly as a result of a late UDP and coalition boycott. The APRC has majority to pass any bill other than one to amend the constitution which requires three quarters majority. The president is to nominate five members of the National Assembly one of whom will be the speaker of the National Assembly. Before the amendment of the constitution he could nominate four. It has now increased to five. It is heading closer to the maximum of eight provided for in the 1970 constitution. It means that the APRC has 37 seats out of a total number of 52 seats excluding the Speaker. This is two seats short of the three quarters majority. With two more seats it could amend any section of the constitution which is not an entrenched provision without consulting any representative on the other side. This is not ideal for a country which wishes to have effective checks on how it is governed. This is why it was so easy to amend the provisions for the election of Chiefs in the 1997 constitution. It goes without saying that the members of other parties however did take up controversial issues and expressed opinions that earned the respect of the public. There is no doubt that this gave rise to the wave that led to the rejection of many NAtional Assembly members of the APRC during their nomination as candidates for the coming National Assembly elections. To have dissenting voices in the National Assembly therefore is as important as having a majority to make decisions. Such voices keep the nation informed of what is wrong and help the people to take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of a government when it comes to the end of its mandate. On the other hand such voices keep the government on its toes so that it will be alert to its shortcomings. In our view, if the president campaigns for a National Assembly without representation for other political parties he would be campaigning for a de facto one party legislature and executive. This would expose an inclination towards a monarchical system. It is also important to add that any coverage by the Radio and TV of the campaign trail of the president would bring complication for the IEC. The IEC and GRTS have already agreed on the time to be allocated to the respective political parties. To give coverage to the president’s entourage would have required the allocation of more time to other parties. Once the president goes on the campaign trail the voters should in fact increase their vigilance. A government which want s to be completely free from scrutiny is a government not worth trusting. It is in the public interest to have men and women of integrity, knowledge and maturity in the National Assembly irrespective of party affiliation. The voters in the coming National Assembly should concentrate on the qualities of the candidates and not party affiliations. This is the way forward. The Burden Of Taxation As the government faces a narrow tax base it is intensifying its squeeze on different sectorts in order to raise more funds. For example, the admission rate for legal practitioners has been raised from D787.50 to D,1,500. The admission rate for Notaries Public is increased from D157.50 to D250. Charges for Memorandum of Association, memorandum of deposits, Memorandum of Agreement, Articles of Association, Affidavit, Civil Appeal and Form of Authorrisation have increased from D10 to D100 dalasis, Bond for the payment of any sum not exceeding D100 has been increased from D10 to D100. Every additional increase of D125 would mean increase in charges from D2.63 to D50. Increase in charges will affect mortgages which moved from the current rates of 1.05% to 5%, conveyance, contract and partnership agreements, Bill of Sales, Bill of lading, Bill of exchange and deeds. This indicates that fees for clients are going to increase as the cost of the charges are transferred to them. Duties on goods, tax on sales and service charges are always passed onto the clients and customers as indirect taxation or charges. Without the expansion of the productive base of the economy. government revenue can only be raised through the scraping of the back of the average Gambian through higher taxation and charges. This does not lead to the reduction of poverty. On the contrary, it provokes its escalation. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>