President
Yahya Jammeh has opened a new page for peace talks and internal dialogue among
all parties and people in The Gambia.
The
President, in a televised speech he gave over state-owned TV on Tuesday night,
tasked his newly appointed Secretary General, Head of the Civil Service and
Presidential Affairs minister to serve as Mediator General in overseeing the
drive for a peaceful resolution of the current political situation the nation
is grappling with.
The
following is the statement the President delivered to the Nation in that
respect:
There
is no denying that our beloved nation is going through a challenging period and
as believers, we should accept that God will test his servants now and then.
Since
the December 1st 2016 elections and indeed even before and during the campaign,
we all have been tested as a nation and we can thank the Almighty Allah, first
and foremost and also our culture and traditions and faith, as a believing,
tolerating and forgiving people that despite everything that has happened, we
have maintained our peace, security and good relations.
As
the President and a citizen, I am very grateful to all Gambians and especially
the Gambian resident in the country, our security services and our religious
leaders, the elders, women and the youths.
As
the whole world knows, being the candidate for the APRC party for the
Presidential Elections, my party and I, rejected the last results declared by
the IEC on December 5th, 2016 because not only was it full of arithmetic errors
and anomalies, it also could not be credibly explained and we have challenged
the results at the Supreme Court as provided by the constitution and the
Electoral Act.
Fellow
Gambians, on December 2nd, 2016, the IEC announced a set of results which I
accepted wholeheartedly in good faith but on December 5th, 2016, the IEC
reversed and gave a new set of results and the result statement itself gave
enough grounds for my Party and I to suspect them.
The
second IEC results stated figures were transposed when actually it has the
63,909 votes for Basse Administrative Area, wrongly added to the vote of one
candidate, which is Mr Adama Barrow.
In
the so called correction, the statement from the IEC, falsely claims this
amount was added to all candidates but the amount was only subtracted from Mr
Barrow, which took his total to just over 199,000 and then his vote for Basse
was doubly counted to give him the lead with 223,000 votes.
Fellow
Gambians, nonetheless as our Constitution provides, only the Supreme Court can
review our challenge and only the Supreme Court can declare anyone President
and so I ask each and everyone of us to respect the Supreme Law of the Republic
and await the Supreme Court Review and Ruling on the Election Results.
Our
constitution is the Supreme Law and does not allow any organization or law or
treaty to supersede it as per section 4 (Supremacy of the constitution); and
section 79 (2) that the constitution does not allow us to enter into any
engagement, agreement or treaty that derogates the supremacy of the
constitution.
As
the President, Commander-in-Chief of our Armed and Security Forces and as a
citizen, and in total obedience to my oath of office, I will take all possible
steps to defend our constitution as per section 6 (2), which make it the duty
of all citizens to defend our constitution.
Therefore,
even where we may disagree, I believe we can as Gambians, come together and
resolve this and any matter, without undue external interference.
Fellow
Gambians, cabinet sat and will continue to sit and liaise with the National
Assembly to take all constitutional measures, to ensure the supremacy of the
rule of law and the constitution in the next days.
I
assure everyone that as a Gambian, a Muslim and a family man, no foreigner can
love this country and hold its highest interest to heart more than myself and
the majority of Gambians.
So
I will also be taking all possible steps within the constitution and my
conscience to do my part to resolve this sad impasse.
As
we are all human and bound to make mistakes and only Allah SWT does not make
mistakes, we therefore accept this as a test by God on our faith individually
and collectively, as believing people.
I
hereby appoint the Secretary General as Mediator General for this trying period
and mandate him to:
1. Ensure the public and civil service
continue to work proficiently and without fear or favor in an apolitical manner
in the service of the nation.
2. Meet with all stakeholders in the
country and prepare a meeting so that all parties can be heard and we resolve
any mistrust and issues among ourselves.
3. Work with the Minister of Justice and
the National Assembly to draft a general amnesty bill to confirm and ensure
that there is no witch-hunt so that we can restore a climate of confidence and
security within constitutional mandate.
In
this connection, I hereby issue an executive order to that effect that nobody
be arrested or prosecuted due to acts or omissions in the pre- and
post-electoral period with effective dates of November 1st 2016 and January
31st 2017.
Fellow
Gambians, as the whole world has seen, we continue as a people to exhibit the
highest degree of fraternity and despite the heated passions, we have
maintained to the highest degree the virtues of patience, tolerance and mutual
respect across ethnic and faith lines and for that I personally thank God and
all of you.
I
ask all Gambians to forgive each other especially us the political class and
ask that we all continue to work together to keep and consolidate peace and
harmony.
I
ask all Gambians and all residents in The Gambia to go about their business in
peace and security and assure you that, Inshaa Allah, all will be well and this
will soon be resolved in peace.
I
thank all my brother and sister presidents from ECOWAS, the OIC, AU and the UN
for their kind words and support to The Gambia, even if some were mistaken and
also assure them that, we Gambians have not gotten here without learning to
live and let live among ourselves.
I
thank you all for you attention and bid you all the peace and blessings of
Allah SWT.
To
the Gambia ever true!
Assalam
alaikum wa rahmatulah wa barakatuhou.
