Former Clinton aide Lanny Davis, who has faced criticism here for lobbying on behalf of the incumbent president of the Ivory Coast after his apparent electoral defeat, resigned the contract in a letter to the country’s ambassador tonight.
Davis had presented himself as a mediator rather than a lobbyist, and he cites President Gbagbo’s refusal to take a call from President Obama, who is pressing him to step aside, in the decision:
Unfortunately, as you know, the decision was made in Abijan not to allow President Obama’s call to be put through to Mr Gbagbo, despite my repeated objections to that decision. Nor have I been able to reach Mr. Gbagbo directly myself to offer him this advice, despite repeated requests, as recently as the last twenty-four hours. Therefore, without going into further details regarding disagreements between me and representatives of the government, of which you are aware, I have reached the conclusion that I have not been allowed to effectuate the mission that I was expressly asked to do by your government, despite all my best efforts to do so.
I therefore cannot in conscience continue to represent your government. This is a difficult decision for me because I truly believed that I could assist in finding a peaceful solution consistent with the international community’s concerns and the interests of the people of the Ivory Coast to avoid further bloodshed.
Full letter after the jump.
Ambassador Charles Koffee
Embassy of the Ivory Coast
2424 Massachusetts Avenue
Washington D.C. 20008
kycharly@hotmail.com
December 29, 2010
Dear Mr. Ambassador,
As you know, for the last two weeks, I have been working to help resolve the crisis in the Ivory Coast. As I said publicly in my statement on December 20th, my mission was not to say who won or who lost the election or who was right or who was wrong, but rather to help resolve this crisis peacefully, through dialogue, mediation and with leadership and participation of the international community.
As you know Mr. Ambassador, from the earliest moments of my involvement, I have publicly urged Mr. Gbagbo to invite an independent international investigation into his claims of electoral fraud and violence, and to respect the results of that review, as a path to the peaceful and mediated resolution of this crisis.
In the past ten days, I have spoken repeatedly with a senior official of the State Department toward this end, and specifically to facilitate a call between the President of the United States and Mr. Gbagbo so Mr. Gbagbo could be presented with options for a peaceful resolution, that would avoid further bloodshed and be in the best interests of his country and the people of the Ivory Coast. There is no excuse for a return to violence or civil war.
Unfortunately, as you know, the decision was made in Abijan not to allow President Obama’s call to be put through to Mr Gbagbo, despite my repeated objections to that decision. Nor have I been able to reach Mr. Gbagbo directly myself to offer him this advice, despite repeated requests, as recently as the last twenty-four hours. Therefore, without going into further details regarding disagreements between me and representatives of the government, of which you are aware, I have reached the conclusion that I have not been allowed to effectuate the mission that I was expressly asked to do by your government, despite all my best efforts to do so.
I therefore cannot in conscience continue to represent your government. This is a difficult decision for me because I truly believed that I could assist in finding a peaceful solution consistent with the international community’s concerns and the interests of the people of the Ivory Coast to avoid further bloodshed.
My decision is final.
I will continue to do all I can to help encourage the parties to resolve this matter peacefully, through dialogue and mediation and non-violence, but for the reasons expressed above I will no longer be able to do so as a representative of your government.
Sincerely,
Lanny J. Davis
Lanny J. Davis and Associates
Washington D.C.
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