Halifa
Sallah says that is not law or common sense
The
lawyer representing the ruling APRC party in the election petition filed at the
Supreme Court in Banjul has said the inauguration of President-elect Adama
Barrow, due on 19 January, should wait until the petition is determined.
But
the spokesperson of Mr Barrow’s coalition, Halifa Sallah, said this is neither
in line with law nor common sense for a losing party - the Alliance for
Patriotic, Reorientation and Construction (APRC) - to have such a right.
The
APRC counsel, lawyer Edward Gomez, said: “The inauguration should wait until
the due process of the law takes place.”
Speaking
to journalists yesterday shortly after Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle
adjourned the petition case till Monday, 16 January, Lawyer Gomez said while
the case is being determined, “the status quo remains”.
A
private legal practitioner and a member of the Gambia Bar Association, who does
not want to be named, said when the election petition is not finally determined
until 19 January, then the inauguration of Mr Barrow should be done, according
to law.
However,
the APRC lawyer said everybody is entitled to his opinion. “Our opinion is that
we have a substantive matter in court, and it ought to be heard according to
the right of the petitioner, according to law and the constitution.”
“There
is a pending issue; it ought to be heard.
There is a rule of law that everybody is entitled to a fair hearing,” he
said, adding that he would advise his client, the APRC, “to proceed with their
legal rights to the fullest”.
Illogical
Meanwhile,
Mr Sallah of the coalition that won the 1st December presidential election said
it is neither in line with law nor common sense, for a loser to have the right
to abrogate or suspend the right of the victor (the winning party) until an
election petition is determined.
“The
right of a victor to be sworn in as president and the duty of the incumbent to
leave office at the end of his term are not invalidated by filing an election
petition.
“The
office of President-elect Barrow has made it absolutely clear that the exercise
of the right to file an election petition by the loser does not deprive the
winner of the right to prepare for inauguration as president of the republic,
on 19 January 2017.”
According
to Mr Sallah, the 1997 Constitution states that the person declared elected as
president shall take the prescribed oath and assume office, on the day the term
of office of the incumbent president expires.
“I
think this is very clear. I think there
is no possibility of distortion,” he continued.
He
pointed out that the Office of President-elect stands by the principle that
Adama Barrow’s election as the president of The Gambia stands.
In
this vein, Mr Sallah called on the general public to prepare for the
inauguration of the president-elect on 19 January.
“The
status of an election petition should be regarded as a peripheral issue and
should, therefore, not hamper any preparation for the inauguration.”
Incumbent
president Yahya Jammeh, who ruled The Gambia for 22 years, lost the election to
Mr Barrow, who leads a coalition of eight opposition parties.
Jammeh’s
ruling APRC party has filed two petitions challenging the election result at
the Supreme Court, the highest law court of the land.
In
the petition, filed on 13 December, the APRC is praying that the court declares
the election void and the results invalid.
The
party argues in the petition that the electoral commission did not conduct the
election in good faith.
The
petition case was first heard on 21 December at the Supreme Court, but it could
not continue as the court did not have enough judges to constitute a panel to
hear the matter.
The
Gambia’s Nigerian Chief Justice, who serves as the head of the Supreme Court
panel, was the only one available for the petition.
After
adjourning the case to 10 January, Chief Justice Fagbenle said five more judges
were hired from Nigeria and one from Sierra Leone.
These
judges were expected in Banjul early this January to be sworn in and to start
work in earnest.
But
at Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Fagbenle said he had received letters from the
chief justices of Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In
the letters, the chief justices said they are used to the normal sittings of
the Supreme Court of The Gambia, in May and November, and not December. As a result, their judges were scheduled for
coming to The Gambia in May and November 2017.
In
the absence of these judges, the APRC’s election petition cannot be determined,
because it can only be considered by the full panel of the Supreme Court of The
Gambia, of five or seven judges.
