The United States has applauded the Gambian people for ensuring their voices were heard in their presidential election on 4 December and congratulated President Adama Barrow on his re-election.
A statement by the Spokesperson of the US State Department, Ned Price, said Gambians cast their votes with a turnout of nearly 90 percent of registered voters in a “free and fair presidential election that was held peacefully”.
The US said “as was the case in December 2016, Gambians once again serve as an inspiration in their peaceful pursuit of representative governance and civic participation in the political process”.
The statement said the US Embassy and other observers noted “some minor procedural irregularities”, as well as the need for broader structural reforms to the electoral processes, which are contained in stalled constitutional and electoral reform legislation.
The US underscored the need for any appeals or complaints to be channelled through the established dispute resolution process and that determinations made through that process be respected.
“All parties should exercise restraint as there is no place for violence in a democratic process.”
The statement said while recognising the significant progress made since 2017, the United States was urging “a reinvigoration” in a second Barrow administration of the many reform efforts promised in 2016 that remain unfinished.
Among them are reforms to dismantle the architecture and tools of oppression and firmly build a foundation based on human rights, access to justice, and democratic, transparent, accountable governance.
These include constitutional and electoral reforms, it said, as well as accountability through implementation of the recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission.
