The US congratulates Barrow on his electoral victory in the Gambia and urges him to “reinvigorate reform efforts”

, Dec 8 () –

The United States congratulated the president of the Gambia, Adama Barrow, on Tuesday for his new “electoral victory” in the recent elections in the country and has urged him that in his second term “the reform efforts promised in 2016 be revitalized” and that “remain unfinished.”

This has been stated by the spokesman for the State Department, Ned Price, who has stressed the need for reforms in The Gambia to “dismantle the architecture and tools of oppression”, as well as to “firmly build a foundation based on Human Rights, access to justice and democratic and responsible governance “.

“This includes constitutional and electoral reforms, as well as accountability through the application of the recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission,” the spokesperson said in a statement released by the area.

Regarding the recent electoral process, he has pointed to “minor procedural irregularities”, pointed out by an international observer. In this sense, he has advocated for “broader structural reforms in the electoral processes” and has stressed the need for “any appeal or complaint to be channeled through the established dispute resolution process and that” the determinations made through of that process “.

“All parties must act with restraint, since there is no place for violence in a democratic process,” warned Price, who also applauded the Gambian people for “making themselves heard” at the polls.

Barrow has revalidated his mandate in the presidential elections last Sunday with 53 percent of the votes, thus achieving re-election after ignoring his commitment to be only three years in office and after reaching a controversial alliance with the party of the former dictator. Yahya Jamé.

The president, who won victory five years ago after presenting his candidacy as an independent with the support of groups opposed to Jamé, was sworn in in January 2017 after the dictator went into exile in Equatorial Guinea after rejecting his defeat at first.

Ousainou Darboe, the main rival of the current Gambian president, as well as other opposition figures have already announced that they will appeal the results.