Gambia President Rejects Election Result

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has rejected the result of the election that saw him deposed as leader by a former Argos security guard a few weeks ago.

In an announcement on state TV, he said the electoral process had suffered “unacceptable abnormalities” and he called for a fresh vote after initially accepting the result.

“In the same way that I accepted the results faithfully believing that the Independent Electoral Commission was independent and honest and reliable, I hereby reject the results in totality,” he said in a statement broadcast on state television, the Telegraph reported.

“Let me repeat: I will not accept the results based on what has happened,” he said, condemning “unacceptable errors” on the part of electoral authorities and calling for a new vote.

Jammeh pointed to an accounting error, identified by IEC, which awarded victory to his opponent Adama Barrow but with a slimmer margin than initially announced. He claimed “investigations” had revealed that numerous voters had not been able to cast their ballots.

“This is the most dubious election we ever had in the history of this country,” he said.

“We will go back to the polls because I want to make sure every Gambian votes under an electoral commission that is impartial, independent, neutral and free from foreign influence,” he added, noting that he would not tolerate any street protests over his decision.

Neighboring Senegal immediately condemned the development, calling for a UN Security Council meeting on Gambia and urging Jammeh to accept the “democratic choice, freely expressed by the Gambian people” and continue a peaceful transition of power to president-elect, Adama Barrow.

The US State Department called the move “reprehensible and unacceptable breach of faith with the people of Gambia and an egregious attempt to undermine a credible election process and remain in power illegitimately.”

Barrow, 51, who spent his early years tackling shoplifters at Argos’s store on London’s Holloway Road, staged a shock victory with 43.29% of the vote to Jammeh’s 39.64%.