Gambia's Jammeh accused of not giving way to democracy

Record ID: 76750

  • Title: Gambia's Jammeh accused of not giving way to democracy
  • Date: 11th December 2016
  • Summary: PHOTO OF GAMBIA'S FIRST PRESIDENT, DAWDA JAWARA, HANGING IN JALLOW'S HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2016 19:39
  • Keywords: Gambia election Jammeh Barrow
  • Location: BAKAU, SEREKUNDA, BRUFUT, GAMBIA
  • City: BAKAU, SEREKUNDA, BRUFUT, GAMBIA
  • Country: Gambia
  • Reuters ID: LVA0025CFW11J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh has been accused on Sunday (December 11) of behaving like a dictator and not giving way to democracy, by challenging the election result.
    Jammeh lost the election to opposition candidate Adama Barrow, which was announced by the elections commission last week and followed by his rapid concession.
    It had sparked hope for change in the tiny West African nation following 22 years of Jammeh's authoritarian rule.
    However, in a move that drew widespread condemnation from the international community, the mercurial former coup leader on Friday decried "serious and unacceptable abnormalities" and called for fresh polls.
    In a statement broadcast on state television late on Saturday, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) said it was preparing a legal challenge to the result.
    Barrow declined to speak to Reuters on Sunday, but Omar Jallow, head of the People's Progressive Party which backed Barrow in the election, said Jammeh's actions were "nothing more than a coup d'etat."
    "We will not accept anything less than Adama Barrow being sworn in," Jallow said.
    Jammeh has long had a troubled relationship with the international community due to accusations of human rights violations including the repression of political opposition and threats of violence and death against homosexuals.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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