(JollofNews) – Opposition parties in the Gambia have rejected President Yahya Jammeh’s calls for fresh elections to be held in the small West African nation.
The electoral commission had declared Adama Barrow of the opposition coalition winner and Mr Jammeh 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.
But on Friday, Mr Jammeh made a surprised u-turn and accused the electoral commission of rigging the results. He said investigations by his party have uncovered serious errors which undermined the outcome of the final results.
He said he has been left with no choice but to reject the totality of the election results and called for fresh elections to presided over by god fearing and independent officials.
The opposition which is due to assume power in mid-January have rejected Mr Jammeh’s call arguing that he does not have any power under Gambian law to nullify any election results or to order for fresh elections in the country after his defeat.
Storm in a tea cup
Reinforcing the message on Sunday, Mai Ahmad Fatty, a senior member of the opposition coalition said the final results declared by the electoral commission still stands.
“There shall be NO new presidential elections. Read my lips: NO new elections. The situation remains the same,” Mr Fatty wrote on his Facebook page.
“The result shall remain the same. Nothing has change and nothing will change. A new Sheriff is in town and he will determine according to public mandate granted him. Do not lose sleep over a storm in a tea cup. The New Gambia is here to stay.”
Meanwhile, president-elect Adama Barrow said on Sunday that he feared for his safety and urged the international community to get the democratic transition back on course by persuading Yahya Jammeh to leaveoffice as he had initially promised.
He said his administration is opening up a channel of communication to try to convince Mr Jammeh to facilitate a smooth transfer of executive powers in the supreme interest of the Gambia.
