Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has contacted (a) President Yahya Jammeh and (b) his counterpart in the government of the Gambia since the recent general election in that country.

The UK welcomes the successful conduct of the elections in The Gambia on 1 December, and congratulates the Gambian people on the orderly and legitimate expression of their desire for change. As the Minister responsible for Africa, I spoke directly to the President-elect, Mr Adama Barrow, last week, to congratulate him on his victory and to offer the UK's support. But we are deeply concerned by President Jammeh's recent rejection of the elections' clear and legitimate result and strongly condemn any attempt to disrupt the peaceful, constitutional transfer of power. We welcome the clear, unified statement of the UN Security Council on 10 December calling for the results to be respected, as well as the efforts of the Economic Community Of West African States to impress on President Jammeh the need to respect the will of the people and ensure a peaceful handover of power to President-elect Barrow.