THE GAMBIA:BARROW ACCUSES JAMMEH OF TRYING TO DAMAGE DEMOCRACY

STATE HOUSE BANJUL,THE GAMBIA


THE GAMBIA:BARROW ACCUSES JAMMEH OF TRYING TO DAMAGE DEMOCRACY
 (JollofNews) – President Yahya Jammeh’s sudden decision to reject the election results is damaging the Gambia’s democratic credentials, President-elect Adama Barrow said.

Mr Barrow and the his coalition partners are safe and are not facing any security threats at the moment.

A closed aid has told JollofNews that Mr Barrow was not surprised by Mr Jammeh’s change of heart but will not allow the will of the people to be subverted.

“We are calling on Mr Jammeh to respect the will of the people and will hold him responsible for anything that happens in this country and its people.”

“We want Mr Jammeh to honour his pledge to handover power to Mr Barrow in January in the interest of peace and the wellbeing of this country.”

Also condemning Mr Jammeh’s u-turn, Mai Ahmed Fatty, a senior member of the opposition coalition assured Gambians that their will not be derailed.

Writing on his Facebook page, Mr Fatty said: “Remain calm. We are working round the clock to restore sanity.

“We have the full support of our people. The world is with us. The Gambia cannot afford instability. Be assured that the will of our people cannot be derailed. As the current custodians of public mandate, we know what we are doing.

The Dec.1st election results WILL NOT be reversed. We ask that you retain confidence in our capacity to tame this transient storm. Yet, we must do all in our collective ability to keep the country united, stable, peaceful and loyal to the President-elect. We shall get over this, in one piece. Long live The Republic of The Gambia!”

Meanwhile,  a Human Rights Watch spokesman also said it was “deeply concerned”.

“The international community, notably [regional bloc] Ecowas and the African Union, should loudly protest any unlawful attempt to subvert the will of the Gambian people,” said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy programme director.

Tension is high in the Gambia and security officers are put on stand-by after Mr Jammeh told state television GRTS that he has rejected the totality of the December 1st election results and called for fresh elections.

Mr Jammeh, 51, who has ruled the Gambia since July 1994, lost the election to Adama Barrow of the opposition coalition.

He had initially conceded defeat and praised the country’s electoral system as “the most transparent election in the whole world,” adding that he would not contest the result.

Final results by the electoral commission said Mr Barrow secured 227, 708 votes representing 43 per cent of the general votes while Mr Jammeh secured 208, 487 votes representing 40 per cent of the votes.

But Mr Jammeh later accused the electoral commission of committing serious errors which undermined the outcome of the final results.