Subject: Gabon
From: "Ken Wollack" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ken Wollack" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2016 13:44:27 -0400

I thought you would be interested in seeing the following email to the
Department of State from the U.S. ambassador to Gabon.  The email, which is
self explanatory, relates to NDI's efforts which were requested by Gabonese
President Bongo and welcomed by the opposition there.

With best regards,

Ken

Kenneth Wollack
President
National Democratic Institute
455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-728-5500 (Tel)
888-875-2887 (Fax)
email: [email-masked]
website: www.ndi.org

>
> *From:* Akuetteh, Cynthia H (Libreville)
> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 26, 2016 11:55 AM
> *To:* Feldstein, Steven J
> *Cc:* Thomas-Greenfield, Linda(MS); Wharton, David B; Brucker, Katherine
> A (Libreville); Lamora, Christopher J; Schofield, William P; Brosius,
> Theodore A; Mossberg, Benjamin D; Sherry, Shana Y (Libreville)
> *Subject:* Thank you for support to NDI
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> Steve,
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> My sincere thanks to you and DRL for funding the NDI mission to Gabon.  It
> was highly successful and NDI did not disappoint.  The first leg of their
> mission began at the end of May with a week’s assessment on the ground,
> engaging  a wide array of government officials, including President Ali
> Bongo Ondimba,  representatives from political parties, civil society,
> trade unions and the diplomatic community.  Before departing at the end of
> the week, the delegation, headed by former Canadian Prime Minister Joe
> Clark, presented very solid recommendations to the government for improving
> the political atmosphere.  While there was broad acceptance that many of
> the recommendations could not be implemented before the August elections,
> the recommendations included reforming the constitution to allow two rounds
> of the presidential election and instituting presidential term limits.
> With political will, both of these should be achievable going forward after
> the elections.
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> Last week NDI returned to host a two-day Forum on competitive elections.
> In addition to NDI’s Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh and Dr. Sophia Moestrup, the
> delegation included two other expert voices on elections and democracy in
> Africa, General Lamine Cissé and Mr. Issaga Kampo.  All four were excellent
> interlocutors.  The Forum responded to a real need for open and frank
> political dialogue.  I had the opportunity to sit in on the last two panels
> of day two (all of the panels ran over their allotted time due to the very
> active participation from the audience).  One of the panels was comprised
> of members of the opposition and governing parties.  The give and take
> between the panelists and the audience was very respectful and civil
> (unlike some the discourse we are seeing and hearing in the U.S.).  One
> member of the audience, in expressing appreciation to NDI, commented that
> the issues being raised were discussed in private, but the Forum provided
> the first opportunity to discuss them in the open.  NDI’s Forum responded
> to a real need for constructive dialogue on Gabon’s political process and
> the future direction of the country.  We all stressed continuously the
> power of the ballot.  At the end of the Forum, NDI distributed its
> comprehensive report on the results of the May visit.  In opening and
> closing remarks, Chris Fomunyoh expressed great appreciation for the
> support that NDI received from DRL.
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> As an added bonus, Chris and Sophia spent two hours with the embassy
> community to prepare us for our election observation role in August.  I
> plan to send embassy teams of observers to major cities throughout the
> country and we plan to collaborate closely with the EU and AU on their
> observer missions to ensure the widest coverage possible.
>
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> Again, many thanks for your support and we look forward to hosting you on
> your promised re-scheduled visit.
>
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> With kind regards,
>
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> Cynthia
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> Cynthia H. Akuetteh
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> Ambassador
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> U. S. Embassy, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe
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> Libreville, Gabon
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> Tel: (241) 01-45-71-00
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> SBU
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> This email is UNCLASSIFIED.
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>