The voting came in the midst of controversial Clause 14 which states the Commission shall register a Gambian living outside The Gambia as a voter if he or she satisfies the requirements for registration prescribed under this Act.
After a heated debate, 14 members voted for the clause to be maintained while 25 voted against with zero abstinence as they debated over Clause 14 of the Election Bill 2021 for consideration.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Hon. Dawda A. Jallow also explained reasons Gambians living in the diaspora can’t participate in elections.
He stated that Section 39 of the 1997 Constitution is an entrenched clause and it states: “You should be registered in a National Assembly Constituency before you are considered an eligible voter.”
He clarified that the diaspora is not in a National Assembly Constituency.
“National Assembly constituencies are under Section 88 and 53 currently. Even if this clause is allowed to pass, IEC will not be able to implement it for the diaspora until they demarcate the diaspora into a constituency and that means Section 88 has to be amended to increase the number of National Assembly constituencies in order to be able to allow the diaspora to vote.”
“We should bear in mind that there is also a draft constitution in progress, it was believed that the draft constitution would have adequately covered some of these inadequacy that are contained here. So if you give them the authority now to register, the diaspora will still not be able to do it in light of Section 39.”
The Justice Minister made this explanation in the midst of Clause 14 of the Election Bill 2021 for consideration.
However, Hon Sulayman Saho, the Member for Central Badibu argues that “every citizen of the Gambia that has reach 18 years and has a sound mind shall have the right to vote for the purpose of election of a president and members of the National Assembly and shall be entitled to be registered as a voter in a National Assembly constituency.
“This does not interpret that the person must be a resident of a constituency. These people are bona fide citizens of the country that should be registered. We have been denying them their right to participate in elections. We must give them an opportunity to be registered,” he stressed.
Clause 14 also highlighted that the Commission shall in consultation with the Inter-Party Committee and Cabinet, prescribe detailed Rules for the registration and voting of Gambians living outside The Gambia to vote in Presidential elections, referenda or any other elections as determined by the Constitution or any other law.
The report of the Joint Committee on Local Government and Human Rights recommended that that Clause 14 stands part of the Bill with the some amendments such as:
“That the phrase “Inter-Party Committee and Cabinet” under Clause 14(2), be removed and replaced with the “National Assembly.”
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