Skip to main content

Direct Election Will Protect MPs During Coup- Tunkara

As members of the Economic Community of West African State Parliament frown at the ongoing Coup d’etat in three of its member state which has led to the dissolution of its participation in the Parliament Activities, An Honourable member from the Gambia delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament Hon. Billay Tunkara has opined that a direct election of the membership to the ECOWAS Parliament will serve as a working strategy to protect Parliamentarians from being disengaged during a coup. Speaking on the floor of the Parliament's Parliamentary seminar held in Lome, Togo, Hon. Tunkara stated that Coup in the region is becoming unbearable, adding that as soon as there is a Coup the affected country is been barred from participating in the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament, which according to him does not help in addressing situations. Tunkara said “To end the menace of disengagement of Members, ECOWAS must be serious to evolve from National Parliament representation to direct election to ECOWAS Parliament, when members are being elected directly from their countries, it has nothing to do with your Parliament being dissolved automatically you losing your seats; “You cannot as a member of Parliament be part of the Legislature of your Country, being in a Parliamentarian from your National Assembly they send you to represent the country at ECOWAS level, the following day there is a Coup d’etat your Parliament is being dissolved, those members that you’ve left at your home country lose their seats and yet you said I can be superior over the Parliament that has sent me here, it is impossible; “In view of that, we strongly recommend that ECOWAS encourage direct representation from the states, by that, such MP has nothing to do with a coup, you are representing a community, when the coup happens it has nothing to do with you, you were sent by the community, not the National Parliament. “I want to assure the entire Parliamentarians that the Gambians will do everything possible to make sure that there is mutual cooperation and collaboration between the commission and the Parliament to make sure that we achieve her desired objectives, ECOWAS Parliament needs to evolve to what we call an autonomous Parliament” Tunkara concluded.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buhari re-appoints Yakubu as INEC Chairman

  The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has re-appointed Prof Mahmood Yakubu as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday titled “President Buhari nominates Prof Yakubu as INEC chairman for second term in office.” The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has presented the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, for a second term in office. “In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said in accordance with the provision of Section 154 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), ‘I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate, the nomination of Professor Mahmood Yakubu for appointment as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second and final term.’ “Prof Yakubu was first appointed by P...
Post a Comment
Read more

ECOWAS Parliament, others strategize on food security, fight against Covid-19

Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament) Sidie Mohammed Tunis, has been joined by  experts in the sub region and other stakeholders to strategize on how to improve food security and  agricultural production in order to ameliorate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region. This is the crux of the ECOWAS Parliament Delocalised meeting with the theme " Agricultural Production and Food Security in ECOWAS region under Covid-19 pandemic" scheduled to begin on Tuesday November 10 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau. Speaker Tunis, who led a delegation of members of Parliament for a courtesy visit on the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Embalo, at the Presidential Villa in Bissau on Monday ahead of Tuesday's opening ceremony, said Guinea Bissau was chosen for the meeting because it is believed to be stable. The Speaker said :  "As you all are aware, Covid-19 has had very negative effects on food production, which is threat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reject List From Countries In breach Of 30 Percent Women Representation – Njai Tells ECOWAS Parliament

A Gambian representative to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Fatoumatta Njai has challenged the Community Parliament to reject list of countries that are short of thirty percent women’s representation to the Parliament. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the official Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Legislature’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment / Education, Science and Culture/Health, currently holding in Monrovia, Liberia on the theme, “ Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region.” Njai said that some countries lack female representation in the Conference of Bureau, this according to her is disregarding the ECOWAS Rules of Procedure. “The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau. Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty percent representation. I thin...
Post a Comment
Read more