(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.
Telling truth and be hornest is the way forward. In this world you lived or you died but makesure telling the truth and be hornest is in the centre of your heart.
I just pray my dear President Y Jammeh gets to read this small. “God gives power to whom He wills and taketh from whom He Wills “.are the Golden words of the Glorious Quran and there may be no further wisdom to explain the timeliness.The people of Gambia have also spoken and again what wisdom is needed to explain.Dear Mr President by handing over power to the president Elect you will be making history ànd saving Gambia from any unnecessary political upheaval, in fact some of us will celebrate you.I have seen you several times at International events and admired your stand on issues about Africa and i can assure you Mr President if you embrace the path of peace we will never forget you and am sure at the appropriate time your ideas will continue to be sought. My dear President please by relinquishing power it will never make you a less important figure on our continent. By dropping your ego to continue in office may be a painful decision to make but it’s overall benefits is for us all on the continent and will certainly reverse the negative impression among world leaders. Sir it’s always any leader’s desire to bequeath a legacy and after eventful 22yrs in office there is no doubt that you have done your best and time for another person to consolidate. To some of us you are one of the luckiest African, taking power then at a very young age and having come this far you have to retire and offer the best of your wisdom to those “God wills” to assume the leadership of Gambia
Thats right Hamza, god knows why he ask to step down, god will shows you all the good sign so that you choose.
Hello Fellow Gambians,
I, Adama Barrow Independent Candidate representing the Coalition of eight parties hereby declare that the planned innaugration schuled for 19th January be postponed until when the ruling can be made on Petition filed by the APRC Party.
The reason is, i want to go into office with a clean sheet. If i had known that the self exiled Gambians in the Diaspora had bribed the corrupt IEC Chairman Alieu Momar Njie before December 1st election i would have withdrawn my candidature. Democracy is not about cheating its all about being clean and to clean the mess other people left. On that note i am declaring the scheduled innaugration be halted until further notice. No urge for ascending to the presidency when the peace and tranquility of our beloved Gambia can be endangered.
Many thanks for your cooperarion.
Yours
ADAMA BARROW
Candidate Independent Coalition.
Go higher my dear friend am we re all solidly behind u God leads ur path