President For Life Quotes
When he became president himself, he not only served 10 years but changed the constitution so that he could serve forever and was still President over 20 years later. See {636079} for a similar view of term limits
This president served his terms as allowed by the Constitution but then moved to change the constitution so that he could be the dictator as perpetual president. The purpose of constitutions is to limit and control the day to day political process and processes of reform. This stands the purpose of a constitution on its head. Modern totalitarian states almost all have constitutions. However where they differ from democracies is that the dictatorships ignore their constitutions, constantly suspend them in “emergencies” or change them at will to serve the interests of the ruling authorities. See {622125} for a Supreme Court Justice’s view of this kind of situation.
Hamilton thought that the Executive Branch should be co-equal with the Judicial Branch and lifetime tenure should apply to both. This quotation is very important as we consider developing countries and emerging democracies. Some in the third world have Presidents for Life—a concept that most democracies scoff at. But the stability and the independence was important enough to some of the Founding Fathers was actually advocated and considered as we formed the American Democracy.
The "It" referred to the fact that when he won the Gambian Presidential election, his predecessor refused to step down and had enough control of the military to prevent anyone else in the Gambia to force hium out. However a few neighboring Afriucan States sen troops into the Gambia. The Army did not want a way and so they stopped supporting the ex-president and he left the country in disgrace.
A Bill of Rights has to be enforced and guaranteed by an independent judiciary in order to mean anything.i In many states, the constitution is suspended for an “emergency” when the ruler finds the constitution inconvenient. Or it is changed to suit the immediate political desires. See {633401} .
His official title was: “President for Life, Protector of the People, Maximum Chief of the Revolution, Apostle of National Unity, Benefactor of the Poor, Grand Patron of Commerce and Industry, and Electrifier of Souls”. He made a mockery of his statement that the people are the source of all power.
