MONROVIA – On the sidelines of the ongoing ECOWAS Parliament First Extraordinary Session of 2025 in Nigeria, Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe, Jr., who also chairs the ECOWAS Parliament Committee on Political Affairs, has urged Gambians and their Parliamentarians to take seriously the issue of constitutional reforms, urging them to not take elections and constitutional reforms for granted.
Making his position known when he addressed the media on Wednesday, March 5 in Nigeria, Senator urged the Gambian Parliamentarians to thoroughly review their constitution in the country’s best interest.
“We followed the process in Gambia very keenly,” Snowe said. “Gambia is key to ECOWAS. Gambia is a small country, but today it chairs the ECOWAS Commission. The President of the ECOWAS Commission comes from Gambia, so Gambia is a key partner to ECOWAS.”
He encouraged all Gambians to look at the situation cautiously as the issue of elections, the issue of constitutional reforms, should not be taken for granted.
As I said previously, Gambia is the only country in our region that still has a simple majority to win the presidency, quipping, “Is that being addressed in the constitution? I believe so”.
Snowe continued: “With regards to the term limit, there is still no term limit in the country. Has that been addressed? Yes, I know there were issues about asset declaration and other issues in the constitution that still need to be addressed, but again, in every democracy there will be disputes, there will be arguments and debates. But talk, talk is better than war, war.”
Liberian lawmaker further said: “So, I encourage the Gambians, I encourage the Parliamentarians, including my own country Liberia, that we should always speak for the people. And the reason we should speak for the people is because we are there, we cannot speak for ourselves.
“We must speak for the people that we represent. I will encourage Gambians to do likewise; have a clean constitution. It may not be perfect, but let’s begin the process by having a new constitution. And enhance democracy in The Gambia because Gambia is very key to our region.”
The assertion from Senator Snowe comes against the backdrop of the momentum building ahead of the 2026 presidential election, in which Gambian leader President Adama Barrow has expressed strong confidence in securing victory by a significant margin in the forthcoming election.
During a recent interview with the media, in which a question was posed to Barrow about his plans regarding another term in office, especially in light of his advocacy for term limits, the President, who is the Secretary General and leader of the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), unequivocally stated: “Let me provide you with a direct answer: Yes, I will be contesting in the next presidential election.”
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