By Sulayman Waan
The European Union has called on Government to take the lead in building the necessary national consensus around the future direction of the democratic transition, “with a new Constitution at its core”.
The European Union has been at the forefront of support to the democratic transition in The Gambia since 2017. The reforms aimed at entrenching democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
However, a statement from the European Union office shared by Vice-President Joseph Borrell read that “Over the last months, it has observed with growing concern a marked slowdown in the pace of the reform process and in particular noted the recent important setback with the rejection of the draft new Constitution.
The statement added: “It is key for the 2021 Presidential elections to take place on the basis of a new social contract.”
It could be recalled that a day prior to the voting of the 2020 Draft Constitution the European Union, United State Embassy, German Embassy and the Britain High Commission requested the National Assembly of The Gambia to vote in support of the Draft Constitution. But their request was turndown by some lawmakers.
Therefore, the EU said the constitutional review process is linked to other pillars of the democratic transition, in particular, the transitional justice process with the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), as well as the Security Sector Reform (SSR).
On this note the European Union’s statement further said: “It, therefore, remains important to lay the foundations for the follow-up of these processes. Moreover, taking forward other significant reforms, such as the revision of the Public Order Law, media and access to information laws prior to the 2021 Presidential elections, requires decisive Government action.”