By Lamin Njie
Members of Operation Three Years Jotna Movement have all the rights to demonstrate peacefully, the national assembly member for Serrekunda West has said.
Madi Ceesay was branded a ‘rogue element’ on Tuesday by political adviser to President Adama Barrow after the lawmaker’s comment that President Barrow will be held responsible if ‘anything unforeseen happens in December.’ Siaka Jatta slammed Ceesay’s comments as treasonous.
On Wednesday, Ceesay responded to Jatta calling him a so-called adviser who was giving wrong advice to the president.
“I would personally hold the likes of Siaka Jatta who calls himself a presidential adviser to President Adama Barrow responsible for all the mess Gambians are going through. Probably due to wrong political advice he offers to the president,” Ceesay said in an audio message made available to The Fatu Network.
On the issue of three years, Ceesay said ‘Three Years Jotna members have all the rights to demonstrate peacefully, a constitutional right given by the constitution and I did not see who can take that constitution right from them.’
He added: “The issue of three years is one of a moral issue it was President Adama Barrow who openly campaigned using the three years. When he was going round using the three years, he had a lot of well-educated people around him, people who are very knowledgeable in the constitution.
“The fact that he and all those who were in the campaign team knew that the presidential mandate is five years and it agreed on the three years was enough to say that stepping down after three years is also constitutional as it is in Section 65 of our constitution sub-section 1(a) which reads: the office of the president shall become vacant during the term of a presidency on the death or resignation of a president.
“He should morally resign come December 2019 as that will mark three years. If not, we will exercise our constitutional rights that is peaceful protest. Political deception is over and will never be tolerated again.”
