Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe has challenged his colleagues at the ECOWAS parliament to take robust action to protect constitutional and democratic rule in the sub-region especially in Mali where the military has taken over power.
Speaking in Abuja, Nigeria during plenary session to discuss the political situation in Mali, Senator Snowe expressed grave concern about what is happening in that country and called on his colleagues to look beyond the military takeover because if care is not taken, the wave in which some governments are subverting the constitutions of their respective countries has the propensity create more problems in the sub region.
“Sometime the military takes over through the guns, but there are other governments now coming to power through changing the constitution to perpetuate themselves in power. So, we should also look at that because after the military comes to power through the guns and you say there is a referendum and you change the constitution to give you a new mandate that is a coup by itself. So we need to look at it as a parliament and we need to look at it so that we will be able to debate the hard issues in our region and do a resolution on it”, the Bomi County lawmaker said.
He said to have a better understanding of what is happening in Mali which could also happen in any of the regional states is to look at some of the root causes of such crises.
He spoke against the military government in Mali sending in appointed representatives to serve in the parliament, a move he termed as contrary to ECOWAS’ stand on upholding democracy in the sub region. He further indicated that he did not even see the reason for the issue of military representation being tabled on the floor for discussion as the ECOWAS court of Justice has already taken action on it and left with them to take action and not based on mere protocols.
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