Constitutional Conference (Hansard, 1 August 1961)

§ Mr. Iain Macleod

The Conference, which concluded its formal discussions on 27th July, reached agreement on the introduction of new constitutional instruments which would bring into effect a high degree of internal self-government in the Gambia.

I propose shortly to lay the Report of the Conference before the House as a Command Paper.

Following is the text of a communiqué issued by the Conference: The Gambia Constitutional Conference which has been held at the Colonial Office during this week with the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Iain Macleod) presiding, concluded yesterday evening, (Thursday, July 27, 1961). These talks have been concerned with the revision of the Gambia Constitution. They followed a local conference held in Bathurst from 4th to 11th May, 1961, the report of which was sent to the Secretary of State for consideration at the London talks. In his opening remarks the Secretary of State said that the main purpose of the talks was to consider the next stage of constitutional advance. He suggested that the aim of the talks was to work out arrangements which would provide The Gambia with a full representative government based on the express will of the people which could face up to the problems, political and economic, which would have to be resolved in the interests of the people. To achieve this aim he accepted that it would be necessary to increase the responsibility placed on Gambian Ministers and to reconstitute the legislature so that it more directly represented the people. He added that that when the constitution had been revised to provide for changes in the executive and legislative fields fresh general elections should be held so that The Gambia would then have a fully representative government able to exercise responsibilities in the major fields of internal affairs and able, because of its representative nature, to foster closer relations with The Gambia's neighbours. The Conference considered specific proposals arising from the Bathurst talks and reached general agreement on the following points relating to the next state of constitutional advance:—Constitution of the Executive Council: the Governor's Special Responsibilities and Reserved Powers; Appointments to Executive Council; Composition of the Legislature; Electoral Procedure and the Public Service Commission. It was agreed that the next general election should be held not later than May, 1962, if this is administratively possible. 143W In reply to suggestions that a date for independence should be fixed now, the Secretary of State said that, while he sympathised with the aspirations of the delegates on this and accepted that independence in one form or other was the goal, this was a matter for consideration during the next stage after the new constitution had come into force. The Report of the Conference, giving full details of the results of the discussion, will be published as a White Paper quite shortly.