President
Adama Barrow has said The Gambia is working on rejoining the International
Criminal Court (ICC) and the Commonwealth.
He
made this declaration at his meeting with diplomats in the country, held
yesterday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
President
Barrow said The Gambia will be part of all international organisations and
respect all protocols, “because these are partners that Gambia needs”, as The
Gambia could not be isolated.
“If
we are isolated, it will be very difficult for us to develop this country, and
we are calling on everybody, the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU),
the European Union (EU) and everybody to come on board to support this young
democracy.”
The
President said reform is inclusive of all aspects of government, the Judiciary,
the civil service and the security forces, because “the system is seriously
polluted and needs serious reforms”.
Actualizing
those reforms needs support from everybody and every country, as well as
international organisations, so that The Gambia could be developed, he said.
He
noted that The Gambia experienced a difficult time in the two months of its
political logjam, as “things were not easy, but people were there to give out
support throughout that period” and that support was well recognised.
The
election was contested based on principle of democracy, which “must be
respected no matter what”, he stated.
The
president said that for the last 22 years the APRC ruled the country through
difficult times, and aggravated that difficulty in the transition period
following the election results.
But
that was changed through the ballot box and everything came to an end,
President Barrow told diplomats in the country.
He
thanked the Senegalese Ambassador to The Gambia, as well as the government of
Senegal for their hospitality and for hosting him for two weeks.
“Senegal
really stood by The Gambia throughout this difficult moment,” for which he was
“very grateful”, the new Gambian leader said.
