The President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Marcel A. de Souza, in line with the objectives contained in the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, wishes to extend his solidarity to the people of The Gambia as they prepare to cast their vote in the presidential election coming up tomorrow, 1^st December 2016.

Despite the non-accreditation of the ECOWAS Technical Observer Team that was to be deployed for the forthcoming election by the Gambian Independent Electoral Commission, ECOWAS remains resolute in its commitment to work with the government and people of The Gambia, to ensure that the process leading to the election are implemented in accordance with international best practices and the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of which Gambia is a signatory.

ECOWAS looks forward to a peaceful and transparent voting process that will lead to the election of a successful candidate that will promote and strengthen the rule of law and political governance in The Gambia.

Finally, ECOWAS wishes to reiterate that the credibility of this electoral process is crucial to laying the foundation for the new elected candidate to foster national integration and sustainable socio-economic development. To this end, ECOWAS calls on all candidates in the election to prevail on their supporters to make sacrifices and accept the outcome of the exercise, or seek redress through lawful means if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the election.

 

Done at Abuja this 30^th day of November 2016