Lawyer
Hassan Martin, a human rights lawyer cum political activist, has advised the
coalition government to do away with party interest.
“Let
them not follow their party interest, for that can be detrimental to the
transitional government; this coalition government is meant for the whole
Gambia,” lawyer Martin said as he broke the silence barely six months of his
return to The Gambia after living in exile for the past four years.
In
an exclusive interview, he said:
“Leaders of the coalition government must also remember that they are
working for the people; they should pursue the common good, not their party
interest, for at least the stipulated period of the transition.
“The
vast majority of Gambians who voted for this change did not belong to any
party, but rather voted for change of dictatorship.”
The
political activist called on the political elites in the coalition government
to start implementing the plans and promises which they promised Gambians.
“This
change does not belong to any political party and the new direction needs to be
dictated by the Gambian people otherwise we may end up having only the
political elites controlling this change,” lawyer Martin said.
“It
is six months since this transitional government came into been, we have given
them the cooling off period, it’s about time they start implementing all the
reforms that they agreed in their MoU or promised to the electorate during the
campaign.”
Martin
said he was one of the most vocal persons during the regime of the former
president, Yahya Jammeh, on term limit and human rights issues.
“It
is part of the legal and constitutional reform we want to see implemented,” he
said.
He
further called on President Adama to work by the coalition MoU in order to
bring about the much needed constitutional reforms and changes all Gambians
have been craving.
“We
voted to have a change in agent, but it’s also time to put change in action,”
the lawyer said. “All Gambians want to
see this change and it has to be change in action.”
Furthermore,
he said celebrating 22nd July is an assault to all Gambians and all democratic
people should condemn it.
“I
am a democrat and all democratic people should condemn the celebration of a
coup d’état,” the human rights lawyer said.
July 22nd was definitely an assault on our democracy and it should not
be celebrated, for it was a day when a gang of soldiers took over the
democratic regime of The Gambia in 1994.”
He
advised the members of the former ruling APRC party to look for an alternative
day to celebrate than July 22nd.
However,
lawyer Martin called on Gambians to be patient with the coalition government,
saying “governance is not easy, we have to understand”.
