By Binta Jaiteh
Banjul South lawmaker, Honorable Touma Njie’s private member Bill has suffered second chance of voting due to inadequate number of lawmakers present at the National Assembly to decide on the Bill.
The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia (1997) and empower and secure seats for women in parliament.
Speaker Mariam Jack Denton Monday said the Bill to have suffered negatively for its second reading and lament the situation of the house for the past weeks as unusual.
She said after completion of the debate, a vote was to be taken as required by Standing Order 67(2) before the Clerk could read the short title of the Bill signifying the Second Reading.
“In addition, Standing Order 16(15) also requires that: “In any instance where the Constitution requires a fixed majority to decide on a question, the Assembly shall not proceed to a vote on that question unless and until a number of 2 Members equivalent to such fixed majority is present at the time for voting,” she said
She said there were thirty-five (35) Hon. Members present, falling short of the required threshold of forty-two (42) for voting to proceed.
“As a result, I exercised my discretion as presiding officer, given the importance of the proposed Constitutional amendment, to suspend the voting until Monday 21st February, 2022 to sustain the process. Honorable Members, today also, the number present (i.e., 34 NAMs) is confirmed by the Table Office to be less than the requirement for voting to proceed on the Second Reading of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Honorable Members, it could be observed that the situation the Assembly is witnessing over the weeks is unusual in our procedures and proceedings,” she disclosed.
“In other words, the National Assembly has never encountered situation where voting on a Second Reading of a Bill was hampered because of the absence of the required threshold. Now therefore: Cognisant of section 226 of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia and Standing Order 16(15) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly; Recognizing that an Ordinary Session of the Assembly must end sine-die at some point and that the current session (First Ordinary Session 2022) ends on the 28th February, 2022; Whereas there is no express provision in the Standing Orders regarding the matter at hand and in accordance with Standing Order 8, I hereby rule that the Second Reading on the Constitution (amendment) Bill, 2021 is negatived for want of the required threshold to carry the motion for Second Reading of the Bill,” she added.
