By Adama Makasuba
United Democratic Party leader Honorable Ousainu Darboe has said that President Adama Barrow killed the controversial draft constitution as he pledged about his victory in 4th December presidential election.
Lawyer Darboe was speaking as he remembered the late Ebrima Solo Sandeng who died in custody after demanding an electoral reform in 2016.
“I said the person who killed this constitution is President Adama Barrow He killed the constitution,” Mr Darboe said. He added that President Barrow should have been honourable enough to have accepted the retrospective clause in the draft constitution.
“Here was a person who said look I will serve only one term and I will not seek re-election. Now if you are given an opportunity to seek re-election, why should you now want a clause that prevents you seeking a term? He should be honourable enough,” he said.
Lawyer Darboe continued that: “If I was President Adama Barrow, I would gone to ECOWAS [and] address my colleagues and said look this is the promise I gave to The Gambian people that at the end of my five years I am leaving even though I had agreed for 3 years. But because of certain things that are still on my plate which I wanted to be part of my legacy namely: the security reform and the constitutional review I want them to be part of my legacy and I want to complete them that’s why I am going for five years otherwise I would stick to my three years.”
Meanwhile, he urged Gambians who think a university graduate is essential for the presidency to campaign for it and ask Gambians to vote out anyone with no university decree.
“If anybody thinks that being a university graduate is essential for the presidency make it an issue in your campaign that look Mr X is not a university graduate so do not vote for him, because he doesn’t have it. The issue of age you take as an issue,” he said.
He also promised that the United Democratic Party will ensure the retroactive clause is approve in the constitution, adding “If we win in this election, this clause thing we will take and we will campaign with The Gambian people to adopt that clause.”
