Dr. Omar Janneh
On many platforms, Mr. Ousainou Darboe was heard of making the point that President Adama Barrow should lead for 5 years because that is what the Constitution says. Indeed that is what the Constitution says, but I do not believe that the Coalition Partners were ignorant of the Constitutional provision of 5 years during their discussions, but that after much discussion/thought, they chose to go for 3 years (presumably) for some good reasons. I suppose Mr. Darboe made his position on the matter having considered the possibilities that a president is mortal, can be impeached and removed from office and may resign before his/her term ends. While Mr. Barrow may believe that he has some choice in the third, i.e., not to resign at end of the agreed term of 3 years, but I doubt if he has much choice in the first and second. But will the country and his Coalition Partners, some of whose support he may now lack because of sacking them, give him the chance to go on for 5 years instead of the agreed 3?
Given Mr. Darboe’s long standing position on the issue that Mr. Barrow should rule for 5 years, it seems doubtful to me if we would have been in the position we are in now – the “new” Gambia with a Barrow Presidency and him as Vice President- had Mr. Darboe taken part in the discussions to form the Coalition. He may have insisted on the 5-year term and no deal may have been struck, unless if the other Partners were ready to budge. Thus Jammeh may still have been in power. And when Mr. Darboe goes on to say that the electorate voted knowing that they were voting for the Coalition Presidential Candidate to serve for 5 years, I think there is some sense that the truth is being massaged somewhat. As Mr. Darboe was in prison at the time, he may not have known/realised that the Coalition campaigned, up and down the country, to serve for 3 years and the people voted believing/knowing full well that the Coalition government, if elected, would serve for 3 years, not 5. However, having got themselves so quickly drunk on power and thus unable to do anything of significance for the country for some 20 months, they have (Mr. Barrow and Mr. Darboe) changed their minds from 3 to 5 years. And please, let’s not buy into the idea that the Coalition agreement that the Coalition President should lead for 3 years was a gentlemen’s (informal) agreement and that they never meant it – what a lousy thing to say. Were they all deceiving the electorate and is politics therefore, tantamount to dishonesty? There is nothing gentlemanly in telling the electorate that you will rule for 3 years when you meant 5, especially upon tasting honey and milk. Gentlemen mean their words. After 22 years of dictatorship, gross rights abuses and brutality, would it not be refreshing and wouldn’t the Barrow government leave a positive legacy if they did as agreed? Unfortunately as Mr. Barrow is planning on not acting honestly to observe their so called gentlemen’s agreement, I think for the sake of country, the Coalition Partners must unite and insist that he steps aside after the agreed 3 years.
With President Barrow at the centre of (alleged) corruption/bribery scandal, it seems that his Presidency is continuing its journey towards the cliff edge. The administration’s spokesperson tried to deny the bribery scandal, but she muddied the waters even more and so the story won’t go away. Not knowing that a president must understand the need to serve all, not the few, and definitely not the National Assembly Members (NAMs) is the height of incompetence and cluelessness and a potential source for national humiliation. Furthermore, the infighting and indiscipline within the UDP, which seem to have escalated because of the recent meeting Mr. Barrow held at State House while Mr. Darboe was out of town, may (now) well have caused Mr. Darboe to reconsider his position on whether Mr. Barrow should stay for 5 years or step aside after 3, as agreed with the Coalition Partners.
Having resigned from his party to contest the elections against Jammeh as a Coalition candidate, one wonders why Mr. Barrow made the statement at State House that he is a UDP President. Is this not against the Coalition agreement? When did he re-join the UDP party and did he inform his Coalition Partners of his intention to re-join UDP? I also wonder why he feels that it would be a betrayal for the UDP to put up a Presidential candidate, while he is President, a UDP President. The upcoming UDP Congress planned for December 2018 would be interesting to follow. If Mr. Barrow dismissed some of his Coalition Partners (Mr. Mai Ahmad Fatty, Mr. Omar A. Jallow, and Ms Fatoumata C.M. Jallow-Tambajang) with the view to strengthening his position and deepen his grip on power, I think he may soon realise that he may have made his position rather difficult. This is because, if it came to a ballot, he would need the blessing of some of those sacked individuals to get his way, i.e., stay as President for 5 years. Is he going to bribe them or anyone to support him? The argument against Mr. Barrow, especially from some of the sacked Coalition Partners, may (now) be that Mr. Barrow’s resignation from the UDP in order to be the flag bearer of the Coalition disqualifies him from contesting as a Presidential candidate (under the UDP ticket) in the next election.
It is my view that by publicly announcing that he (Mr. Barrow) is a UDP President and that the UDP should have no cause to nominate a new presidential candidate against him, he may have inadvertently jolted the Coalition Partners to react and call aCoalition Partners’ meeting, to discuss the three-year transition agreement, to which Mr. Barrow would be apparently invited to attend. As Mr. Barrow’s statement at the State House appears contrary to our understanding of the Coalition agreement, is there something that Mr. Barrow, (we) or the Coalition Partners do not understand about the agreement they reached in 2016? Of course, depending on the wording of the Coalition agreement, it may be possible for Mr. Barrow to run under a political party separate from (e.g., a new party of his own or otherwise) any of the parties that formed the Coalition, but I doubt if any of the Partners would have signed up to that. In any case, now that Barrow may have lost the support of the sacked Coalition Partners and there now seems an apparent tension between him and Mr. Darboe (who wasn’t at the first meeting, but may be at the upcoming one; by the way do not be surprised if they fail to reach an agreement because Mr. Darboe seems to prefer taking the win all position in a negotiation), it will be interesting to know what outcome this meeting will produce.
Assuming that the planned Coalition Partners’ meeting to discuss the status of the Coalition and the 3-year transition period goes ahead and the Partners fail to reach an agreement, it would be important for the Partners to consider referring the matter to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and or consider asking the public in a referendum. In fact, is it unreasonable for the IEC to react to Mr. Barrow’s statement and demand an explanation from him for publicly stating that he is a UDP President? It can be argued that Mr. Barrow’s statement is not only a departure from the Coalition agreement, but also deceitful to the electorate, i.e., he may have broken the Coalition agreement on which he contested the elections and therefore, the election rules. If this notion is fanciful or lacks merit at the moment, I do not think it will be unreasonable to consider including something in the rule book (e.g., the Constitution – the CRC may perhaps need to take note) that will 1) prevent a Coalition President/any President from deviating from an agreed term limit and 2) ensure that the terms of any (Coalition) agreement are legally binding: that an individual who agrees to resign from their Party and lead as a Coalition President on the understanding that s/he shall not be permitted to contest in the next elections, but shall step down after the agreed term limit; that s/he is not permitted to form a party, re-join their former party or join any existing party during their term in office. I believe that such a provision may prevent a President from departing from an agreement and or making the kind of untrustworthy statements we have heard recently. In my view, Mr. Barrow’s recent statements have caused much anxiety in the country and it has the potential to prematurely destabilise his government. Furthermore, our recent history teaches us that when a leader says one thing and does another, such action invariably entrenches the leader into power, which is a slippery road to a dictatorial regime. For now at least, I will maintain the view that should Mr. Barrow’s explanation for saying what he said at the State House fail to satisfy his Coalition Partners (and the IEC), I think a referendum or an early Presidential election should be called. We should seek to have such a referendum by June 2019 and a possible general election by the end of 2019.
At the very least, people ought to be asked if Mr. Barrow should honour the Coalition agreement and serve for 3 years or 5. Mr. However, Barrow and the Coalition Partners cannot and must not tell us that he (Mr. Barrow) has not fulfilled the ambitions of the Coalition agreement and that he should be allowed to stay as President for 5 years. If the Coalition Partners have been following Mr. Barrow’s performance, they should know that Mr. Barrow will not deliver on the Coalition agreement even if they allowed him 6 years, twice the agreed time period. Indeed no such provision was ever communicated to the electorate during the 2016 elections and that given Mr. Barrow’s uninspired leadership and very poor performance, such a position is without merit and so Mr. Barrow must go. Of course Mr. Barrow and all those drinking honey and milk with him may have much to do, but they only have much to do for themselves and their families, and perhaps some few others, e.g. the NAMs – the donated vehiclesand the recently alleged cash gifts.
If Mr. Barrow insists on serving for 5 years, he will be deceiving his Coalition Partners and the whole country. Such blatant and unacceptable dishonesty would make the formation of another Coalition government, which helped us remove a dictator and could in the future help us remove other dictators and clueless presidents, difficult in The Gambia. Clearly, the current leadership and all of the Coalition Partners must know that they will not be on the right side of history for supporting such deceitful action; such action will not serve the country well in the long term. Therefore, we must push for a general election in 2019 and remove this bunch of ineffectual people from power. We must not accept, coercively or reluctantly, that Mr. Barrow should serve for 5 years. Mr Barrow and his administration are increasingly becoming a national humiliation. We must do away with our apparent affinity for mediocrity; we can do better, much better indeed.
