ON THE SECOND ROUND OF VOTING
Clause 86 of the Draft Constitution 2024 stipulates:
Procedure of election of President
(1) The Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission shall declare a candidate elected as President if the candidate has received more than half of all the votes validly cast in the election.
(2) If, on the first election, no candidate is elected, the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission shall hold a second election within fourteen days of the date of declaration of the results of the first
election.
(3) In the second election, the only candidates shall be the two candidates who received the highest number of valid votes cast at the first election.
(4) If, at the first election, more than two candidates received equally the highest number or second highest number of valid votes, the candidates who received the highest number and second highest number of valid votes shall participate in the second election, unless any of them withdraws his or her
participation.
TWO TERM LIMIT
Clause 92 of the Draft Constitution 2024 stipulates:
Term of office of the President
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the President shall hold office for a term of five years.
(2) No person shall hold office as President for more than two terms of five years each, whether or not the terms are consecutive.
(3) Where the life of the National Assembly is extended for any period in accordance with section 129 (2) and (3), the term of office of the President shall be extended for the same period.
(4) Where the term of office of the President is extended in accordance with subsection (3), the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission shall appoint a new date for holding election for the office of President within the period specified in section 82 (2).
DISCLOSURE OF LIABILITIES AND BUSINESS INTEREST
93. Disclosure obligations of the President
(1) The President shall –
(a) within three months of assuming office, disclose to the Anti-Corruption
Commission all liabilities and business interests he or she has or that is held on his or her behalf; and
(b) within three months of leaving office, disclose to the Anti-Corruption Commission all liabilities, assets and business interests he or she has incurred or acquired during his or her tenure as President or that is held on his or her behalf.
(2) Where upon assuming office the President has any business interest, he or she shall, unless he or she otherwise disposes of the business interest, transfer the business interest to be held on his or her behalf in a trust which shall be managed in a manner to ensure conformity with this section.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRESIDENT
94. Restrictions regarding Office of the President
The President shall not, during his or her tenure of office –
(a) hold any other public or private office and shall not perform remunerative work outside the duties of his or her office, except in respect of agriculture;
(b) use his or her office, or use information entrusted to or received by him or her in his or her official capacity, for personal gain directly or indirectly or place himself or herself in a situation where his or her material interests conflict with the duties and responsibilities of his or her office; or
(c) establish, or advocate for, participate in, or promote, the establishment, or in any other way engage in the establishment, directly or indirectly, of any organisation or institution of a civic, charitable or other nature.
CAN YOU SUE THE PRESIDENT?
95. Immunity of President from legal proceedings
(1) Subject to this section, the President shall not, during his or her tenure in office, be liable to civil
or criminal proceedings, whether in his or her personal capacity or in relation to the performance of a
function of his or her office.
(2) The Office of President shall not be immune to orders of the courts concerning rights and
duties under this Constitution.
(3) A person shall not, after leaving the Office of President, be liable to be sued for any act
or omission done or omitted in his or her official capacity during his or her tenure as President, but shall
not otherwise be immune.
(4) The National Assembly, with the approval of two-thirds of all its members, may remove an immunity granted to the President under this section after his or her term in office.
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as –
(a) preventing the National Assembly from impeaching the President for obstruction of justice under section 171 (2) (d); and
(b) extending to a crime for which the President may be prosecuted under any treaty to which The Gambia is a party and which prohibits such immunity and, for that purpose, section 10 (2) shall not apply.
(6) Where a person who has ceased to hold or perform the functions of the Office of President is a party to any legal proceedings, any period during which the person was immune from legal proceedings under this section shall not be counted for the purposes of applying any rule regarding the limitation of
action.
