There is a promise made by the ministry of information that a press conference would be held to discuss the Barrow Administration Draft Constitution. It should be clear that the executive is not the original law making body. The only authority it has in the making of the law is to present a government bill to the National Assembly and to assent to bills after they are passed by the National Assembly or adopted at a referendum or be empowered by the National Assembly to make subsidiary legislation.
What is required by the executive under section 226 of the Constitution is to publish a Bill on constitutional amendment or promulgation for a period of at least three months, in the first instance, and not less than ten days thereafter and then present it to the National Assembly for legislative processing.
It is the National Assembly that has the duty to invite witnesses, such as subject matter specialists and all concerned persons to subject the Bill to scrutiny before passing t for assent or adoption for a referendum. The executive will have enough time at the National Assembly to explain what it has during the debate. The time it had to hold press conferences and consultation with the public is before finalising a bill. Once a bill is finalised and published the work of the executive is done. The matter is now ready to go into the hands of the legislators.
