Banjul: Gambian President Adama Barrow has comfortably won re-election, the Election Commission said on Sunday, although he could face legal challenge from opposition candidates who rejected the results due to unspecified irregularities.
The vote was the first in 27 years without humiliating former president Yahya Jammeh, who was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea in 2016 after refusing to accept defeat from Barrow.
Jammeh’s 22-year autocratic rule over the small West African nation of 2.5 million people, which began with a 1994 coup, was characterized by the killings and torture of political opponents.
Saturday’s peaceful election, seen by many as a victory for democracy, helped draw a line during that troubled period.
Once intimidated by Jammeh’s ubiquitous secret police, hordes of people flock to the streets of Banjul on Sunday nights to celebrate, or roll around in their cars while honking the horns. Hundreds of people gathered in a park in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan to hear Barrow’s speech.
“Democracy has done its job,” Barrow said to the cheering crowd after the results were announced. “I have been lucky enough to be chosen by you. I will use all resources I can to make The Gambia a better place for all.”
Barrow’s first term provided a welcome change for many in Jammeh’s brutal tenure. But progress has been halted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has hurt an economy that relies heavily on tourism, as well as exports of peanuts and fish.
For the election, Jammeh tried to persuade supporters to vote for an opposition coalition, which were relayed to campaign rallies.
But he failed to break into Barrow’s pursuit. The president received nearly 53 percent of Saturday’s vote, far more than his nearest rival, political stalwart Osenou Darbo, who won nearly 28 percent.
As soon as the results came out on Sunday, representatives of all opposition parties signed almost all the tally sheets read to the Election Commission.
But later in the day, Darbo and two other candidates, Mama Kandeh and Asa MB Phal, said they would not accept the results because the results take longer than expected and because of problems at polling stations.
He did not provide details or evidence of wrongdoing.
“We are concerned that there has been an inordinate delay in the declaration of results,” their statement said. Our party agents and representatives have raised many issues at the polling stations.
The statement did not say what they would do now, saying only that “all work is on the table.”
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