THE GAMBIA: APPOINTMENT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANJUL 000064 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GA SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: APPOINTMENT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS, SPEAKER REF: BANJUL 44 Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B and D) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPOINTMENTS AND NOMINATION OF SPEAKER -------------- -------------- ¶1. (U) Following the ruling APRC party's overwhelming victory in the January 25 National Assembly elections for 48 of 53 seats (reftel),President Yahya Jammeh has selected members for the Assembly's five Presidentially-appointed seats. The five include an incumbent appointed member, Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, along with Tina Faal, Oley Sey, Seedy Njie, and Seyfo Bala Musa Sanyang. Jammeh also nominated Jahumpa-Ceesay as Assembly Speaker; the full Assembly, after being sworn in February 8, is expected to endorse the nomination and select a Deputy Speaker. ¶2. (U) Of the five appointees, only Jahumpa-Ceesay is known to us. A journalist by training, she formerly headed the Press and Public Affairs Office at the Presidency. She is known for her activism in the ruling APRC party and is a hardline supporter of Jammeh. During her previous stint in the Assembly, she was active on behalf of women's and children's rights. As for the other appointees, according to biographic information in the local media, Faal and Sey are businesswomen, while Njie is a youth activist associated with the National Patriotic Students Association. Sanyang previously served as an appointed official at the provincial level. Apart from Jahumpa-Ceesay, no party affiliation is mentioned in the media's biographic information for the appointees, but all can be expected to support ruling party positions. The appointments of Jahumpa-Ceesay, Faal, and Sey bring to five the total number of women in the Assembly. COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) The outgoing Speaker, Belinda Bidwell, was conspicuously absent among the five appointees. In our dealings with her, she had projected the image of a reformer committed to the long-term development of a more professional and assertive Assembly able to serve more effectively as a check on executive power. Not affiliated with the APRC, she had previously expressed to us hope that Jammeh would re-appoint her to the Assembly. However, the independent-minded bent that she occasionally displayed may well have ensured Jammeh's decision against keeping her on in the Assembly. Jahumpa-Ceesay is not likely to demonstrate such a bent, and her appointment as Speaker serves to reinforce Jammeh's and his APRC party's overwhelming control over the Assembly. END COMMENT STAFFORD