#Editorial

Good morning Mr. President; Let's respect term limits! 

Dec 21, 2020, 12:35 PM

 Mr.President, : It was good and refreshing to hear from your current Meet The People Tour that you will not overstay in power like your predecessors did.

It will be more appropriate and clear for the records ‘if you can be specific and tell Gambians that if you are re-elected come 2021, you will not seek a third term as your sycophants are advocating and it's not good for you and your legacy.

Mr. President, for the records, your legacy and to keep the Gambia flag high, you should make pronouncement on the specific period you want to serve the nation and make sure you stick to it.

Many West African leaders, who signed the agreement of two terms in 2014 in Ghana except Gambia and Togo, have gone against the agreed term limit. 

Some of them betrayed this two terms agreement and prolonged for third term with very old ages. Mr President it is a well-known fact that overstaying in office is sometimes give rise to instability and street protests as witnessed in some West African countries. This led to loss of lives.

Gone are the days for leaders to overstay in power. They should realise that they are elected by the people and if their term ends, they should give chance to others. Nothing is permanent and no man is indispensable.

Mr President, African leaders should make sure that they are in power to work for the development of their nations so as to improve the lives of the citizenry.

We all agree that despite our meager resources, you are trying to construct better roads, improve water and electricity supply, health care system and your government increased salaries by 50%, championing democracy with 16 existing political parties but the cost of living is still very high.

Since last month, the price of basic commodities in the country has been increasing drastically which is a cause for concern. There is need for urgent actions.

Mr president, in 2016 Gambians voted you into office in a regime change, introduction of term limit, president to be elected with 51%, provision to respect all religions, good governance etc. 

All this can only be achieved if it is properly spelled out in our constitution. It's time for the political leaders, NAMs, religious leaders, civil society and the press to dialogue and find a better solution to adopting a new draft constitution.

We should give peace a chance and listen to the proposal of former president of Nigeria Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who is currently in The Gambia to meet with you and other stakeholders to add his weight on the new draft constitution.

The D116 million spent in the drafting the new constitution shouldn't be thrown away like that.

Mr. President, it is high time that Gambian politicians respect each other and stop the use of abusive language to castigate or make unfounded allegations against each other.

Mr President, December 4th 2021 is the proposed date for presidential election. This is the day Gambians are expected to elect their preferred candidate.

Therefore, as we look forward to this day, let us not allow politics to divide us or create enmity in the country because the present political atmosphere is not good for our future.

Politicians should sell their manifesto and plans to the Gambian people and not to be insulting each other.

Let’s find a common solution to getting a new constitution that would be in the best interest of all Gambians.

Merry Christmas in advance to you and your family, our readers and advertisers.

Good day!

The Point’s editorial