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| Ambassador Alsup |
Ambassador
Alsup made the following remarks at an American Citizens Town Hall Meeting on
January 6, 2017.
Ladies
and gentlemen, it is a great honor for me to welcome you all to our Town Hall
meeting for Americans in The Gambia.
Thank you all for being here this morning.
Today
we are on the verge of a great change in The Gambia. As we all know all too well, there is
currently an uncertain political environment in The Gambia. We know that the uncertainty is making a lot
of people uncomfortable, so we thought it would be useful for us to get
together to talk about what the U.S. is doing and about what you can do to
prepare for potential unrest and to keep yourselves safe.
On
December 1, 2016, incumbent President Yahya Jammeh lost the national election
to the opposition candidate, Adama Barrow.
Although he initially conceded, President Jammeh has since publicly
rejected the results and filed an appeal of the outcome, including a request
for a new election with the Gambian Supreme Court. In a meeting on December 17 in Abuja, The
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided that if President
Jammeh does not leave power at the end of his term on January 18, 2017, then
ECOWAS will take all necessary actions to enforce the results of the Gambian
elections, including a potential military intervention.
President
Jammeh has called the ECOWAS decision to implement the December 1 election
results illegal and a declaration of war.
He has also shut down three radio stations, and restricted broadcasting
of a fourth, and there are widespread reports of politically motivated
arrests. On January 10, 2017, the
Supreme Court is scheduled to hear President Jammeh’s petition contesting
election results, which is a potential flashpoint that could lead to civil
unrest.
