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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 07:10:00
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/12/265037.htm
Ensuring a Peaceful Transition in The Gambia
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 9, 2016
We strongly condemn President Jammeh’s December 9 statement rejecting the December 1 election results and calling for new elections. This action is a reprehensible and unacceptable breach of faith with the people of The Gambia and an egregious attempt to undermine a credible election process and remain in power illegitimately.
We call upon President Jammeh, who accepted the election results on December 2, to carry out an orderly transition of power to President-Elect Barrow in accordance with the Gambian constitution. We call upon all institutions in The Gambia, including the elected leadership, the armed forces, religious leaders, political parties and civil society organizations to reject violence and peacefully uphold the will of the people that was expressed clearly through the ballot box. The people have spoken and it is time for Gambians to come together to ensure a peaceful transition to President-elect Barrow. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 21 Dec 2016 : 14:46:23
Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh lambasts Ecowas mediators
BBC Online
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| Momodou |
Posted - 21 Dec 2016 : 14:15:04
‘I am not stepping down’ - Jammeh
Th oint: Wednesday, December 21, 2016
The outgoing Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, has said that the recent Ecowas summit, where a decision on Gambia was taken, was just a formality because even before the gathering, it was decided that “Jammeh must step down”.
“I will not step down,” he said. “I have made it very clear that I will not accept the result. They even asked me to leave the country for peace to prevail but I will not leave or go anywhere.”
Jammeh accused the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, for interfering into the internal affairs of the country as a sovereign state.
During a meeting with a delegation from the African Bar Association at the State House in Banjul, yesterday, Jammeh said Ecowas action is a violation of the cardinal principle of the country’s constitution.
He still maintained that “there were a lot of irregularities discovered during the electoral process” and there were 360,711 voters who did not vote.
He said this is why he decided to take the matter to court, Supreme Court.
In spite of this, in a communiqué at the end of its summit on Saturday, Ecowas leaders said they are to take all necessary actions to enforce the result of the 1st December 2016 elections.
After accepting the result as the will of the Gambian people and called president-elect to congratulate him, outgoing president Jammeh now faulted the process, fairness and result of the election which he initially described as “most transparent and rig-proof”.
Jammeh is also calling for fresh election.
But in the Ecowas communiqué, the West African leaders agreed to uphold the result of election, and called on Jammeh to respect it as the will of the Gambian people.
The sub-regional bloc also urged him to refrain from any action likely to compromise the transition and peaceful transfer of power to the president-elect.
However, Jammeh said he will not be intimidated by any power in this world.
“I want to make sure that justice is obtained. I am a man of peace but that doesn’t mean that I won’t defend myself. I am not a coward,” he said. “Nobody can deprive me of that victory except the Almighty Allah.”
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| Momodou |
Posted - 13 Dec 2016 : 19:06:18
IS PRESIDENT JAMMEH’S INVALIDATION OF THE ELECTION RESULTS LAWFUL AND WILL THERE BE FRESH ELECTIONS?
Foroyaa Editorial: December 13, 2016
http://www.foroyaa.gm/archives/13297
President Jammeh contested the Presidential Elections as a private citizen representing a political party. He is equal to the other contenders and has no right to declare election results invalid and call for fresh elections.Section 49 of the Constitution indicates how results of Elections could be challenged. It states “Any registered political party which has participated in the Presidential election may apply to the Supreme Court to determine the validity of the election of a President by filing a petition within ten days of the declaration of the result of the election.”
Section 127 subsection (1)(c) adds:
“The Supreme Court shall have an exclusive original jurisdiction on any question as to whether or not any person was validly elected to the office of President or was validly elected to, or vacated his or her seat in, the National Assembly”
Section 97 of the Elections Act adds: “No election and no return to an elective office shall be questioned in any proceedings except by an election petition…….’’
It is therefore clear that issuing press statements or holding marches will not reverse the results of Elections. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 12 Dec 2016 : 21:44:03
Must Read and Share
PRESS STATEMENT - GAMBIA BAR ASSOCIATION
The Gambia Bar Association condemns in the strongest possible terms the announcement by outgoing President Yahya Jammeh made on Friday the 9th December 2016 wherein he declared the 1st December 2016 elections null and void.
The said statement of the outgoing President contravenes the provisions of Section 49 of the 1997 Constitution of The Republic of The Gambia, and in our considered opinion is an abrogation of the Constitution and an attempt to subvert the legitimate decision of the People of The Gambia. Further, this action is tantamount to treason under the provisions of Section 6(1) of the Constitution.
We reject the subsequent statement by the APRC that it intends to file an election petition against the results published by the Independent Electoral Commission. The rhetoric of the APRC further compounds the illegitimate and destabilizing actions of the outgoing President.
While under normal circumstances the right to petition against election results does exist,the situation in The Gambia now, is that there is no constituted panel of the Supreme Court. The GBA notes with concern that since May 2015, there has not been a sitting Supreme Court session due to the absence of a panel. This is despite several reminders issued to the Chief Justice by members of the Bar. In the circumstance; it would be against the principles of natural justice for the outgoing President to appoint Supreme Court Judges to hear a Petition filed by him or on his behalf. That would be tantamount to one being a Judge in his own cause considering that the outgoing President has already pre-empted the outcome of Court process by declaring the election result as a nullity. It is the position of the GBA that an outgoing President must not be appointing Judges who should have been appointed since 2015 .
In the present circumstances, any Supreme Court empanelled by the outgoing President Jammeh for the purposes of hearing his election petition would be fundamentally tainted.
The Gambia Bar Association therefore states that there is no legitimate legal mechanism available in The Gambia to hear and determine the election petition filed by the outgoing President Jammeh or on his behalf. Under the circumstances we call on outgoing President Jammeh to respect the outcome of the December 2016 elections and immediately hand over power peacefully to President Elect Adama Barrow in line with the sovereign will of the people of The Gambia.
Any other course of action will jeopardize the peace and stability of our country.
We also call on other professional bodies, unions, civil society organisations, the civil and public service and the security forces to respect the will of the people and pledge their allegiance to the President Elect.
We also call on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights headquartered here in The Gambia to strongly urge the outgoing President to respect the outcome of the just concluded Presidential elections and to further respect the relevant regional and international human rights instruments binding on The Gambia.
We ask all members of the Bar Association and the staff of the judiciary in particular to boycott the courts in solidarity with the people until such time as the Government of outgoing President Jammeh accepts the result of these elections and hand over Power to the President Elect. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 12 Dec 2016 : 13:38:23
Gambia poll chief 'rebuffs Jammeh'
The Gambia's electoral commission chief has warned President Yahya Jammeh that his bid to overturn the election result will not change the fact that he lost to property developer Adama Barrow, Reuters news agency reports.
Alieu Momarr Njai told the agency:
"The election results were correct, nothing will change that. If it goes to court, we can prove every vote cast. The results are there for everyone to see."
Mr Jammeh said on Saturday that he he would challenge his defeat in the Supreme Court, alleging that the poll was marred by irregularities.
Initially, he accepted defeat and said he would go and retire on his farm.
Mr Barrow won 222,708 votes (43.34%), compared with Mr Jammeh's 208,487 (39.6%). A third candidate, Mama Kandeh, won 89,768 (17.1%).
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| Momodou |
Posted - 12 Dec 2016 : 12:41:28
Honourable Halifa Sallah clears the air about the position of
the Coalition regarding out going president taking a U turn regarding election results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi0LMb3EZ4c
"If Jammeh refuses to hand over power when his term expires in January then he becomes a rebel" Halifa Sallah Coalition Spokesperson.
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| Momodou |
Posted - 11 Dec 2016 : 21:52:32
Gambia's President Jammeh to challenge election loss at top court
Reuters: Sun Dec 11, 2016
By Edward McAllister | BANJUL
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gambia-election-idUSKBN1400LN
Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh will challenge the results of a Dec. 1 election at the Supreme Court, the ruling party said, raising the prospect that a shock opposition victory that was poised to end 22 years of autocratic rule will be overturned.
Celebrations erupted across the tiny West African nation last week when Jammeh unexpectedly conceded defeat after the elections commission announced the victory of opposition candidate Adama Barrow.
However, in a dramatic about-face that drew international condemnation, 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 petition "against the flawed decision of the Independent Elections Commission".
The deadline for submitting a challenge to the court is Tuesday.
There is no sitting Supreme Court in Gambia, though there is currently a chief justice, who is Nigerian. In order to hear Jammeh's complaint, legal experts believe at least four other judges must be hired.
Rights groups say Jammeh exerts strong influence over the court.
Three chief justices served between 2013 and 2015. The first, a Nigerian, was fired five weeks after his appointment then arrested and jailed. His Ghanaian successor lasted six months before his dismissal.
Ali Nawaz Chowhan from Pakistan served for three months before abruptly leaving Gambia after acquitting the former navy chief in a treason case. He later told a Pakistani newspaper that he left because the decision displeased the government.
The last two Gambian judges left the court a year and a half ago.
"Either you do what Jammeh wants you to, or you lose your job or even go to jail," said Bubacarr Drammeh, a former state prosecutor who fled into exile in the United States earlier this year.
"NOTHING MORE THAN A COUP D'ETAT"
"The election results were correct, nothing will change that," elections commission head Alieu Momarr Njai told Reuters on Sunday. "If it goes to court, we can prove every vote cast. The results are there for everyone to see."
Barrow, who has pledged to serve as a transitional leader and step down after three years, said on Saturday that Jammeh had no constitutional authority to reject the poll results.
The residence in the capital Banjul where Barrow was staying on Sunday was surrounded by around 30 unarmed supporters who said they were providing security after the police and military declined to protect him.
Banjul was calm though armed soldiers were visible in the streets and manning checkpoints on some roads in the city.
The head of the Gambian army pledged allegiance to Barrow last week, however a regional diplomatic source who said he had spoken to the president-elect told Reuters he did not feel safe.
"He asks that the international community ensure his security because he feels threatened," said the source, who asked not to be named.
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 ... We will not take this lying down," 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.
His U-turn on Friday drew condemnation from the United Nations, African Union, European Union and the United States.
"The will of the Gambian people, freely expressed in exercise of their franchise, must be respected by all without precondition," said Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who currently chairs the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.
(Additional reporting by Diadie Ba in Dakar and Joe Bavier in Abidjan; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Ros Russell) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 23:18:55
Gambia: UN Security Council calls on outgoing President to 'respect' peoples' choice and to carry out a peaceful transition
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55776#.WEx-MJWkqhB
10 December 2016 – Strongly condemning the outgoing Gambian President's rejection of the official election results proclaimed by the country's Independent Electoral Commission, the United Nations Security Council urged him to carry out a peaceful and orderly transition process.
In a press statement issued today, the 15-member Council called on outgoing President Yahya Jammeh “to respect the choice of the sovereign people of Gambia, as he did on 2 December, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr. Adama Barrow.”
The Council also urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from violence and remain calm, and requested that the security of President-elect Barrow and that of all Gambians be fully ensured.
Further in the statement, Security Council members also called on the support by the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWAS) and international partners, especially the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to preserve stability in the west African country and work towards the installation of a democratically elected Government in the country.
The Council members also commended the Gambian people for the peaceful and transparent conduct of elections on 1 December and expressed their commitment to continue to closely follow the evolution of the situation in the country.
They further called on outgoing President Jammeh to respect the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, notably the rejection of unconstitutional changes of Government, and recalled the relevant provisions of Article 23 (4) of the African Union (AU) Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 22:52:17
APRC press release on GRTS, Yayha Jammeh to challenge election results in the Gambian Supreme Court.
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| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 21:27:03
Gambia President-elect Adama Barrow: Yahya Jammeh must concede
BBC Online
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38275511
Gambian President-elect Adama Barrow has called on incumbent Yahya Jammeh to accept defeat in last week's election.
President Jammeh initially appeared to concede after results showed he had clearly been defeated, but on Friday said he rejected the results "totally".
Mr Barrow said the president had "no constitutional authority to reject the results" and demand another election.
The African Union (AU) has also condemned Mr Jammeh's latest statement, describing it as "null and void".
Mr Barrow urged his rival to allow "a smooth transfer of executive powers in the supreme interest of this country".
President Jammeh's reluctance to accept the result has criticised by the US and neighbouring Senegal...................
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| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 20:59:21
U.N. Security Council condemns Gambia's Jammeh, urges restraint
Reuters: Sat Dec 10, 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gambia-election-un-idUSKBN13Z0PP
The United Nations Security Council on Saturday condemned Gambia President Yahya Jammeh's rejection of election results announced last week that saw him lose power after 22 years, and it urged all parties to refrain from violence.
"(Security Council members) called on him to respect the choice of the sovereign People of The Gambia, as he did on 2 December 2016, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr. Adama Barrow," it said in a statement.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Hugh Lawson) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 18:40:19
GAMBIA VOTER TURNOUT STATISTICS:
By Buharry Gassama
Date Votes Registered Votes Turnout
Date Votes Registered Votes Turnout
President 2006-09-22 392,685 670,336 58.58%
National Assembly 2012-03-29 308,489 796,929 38.71%
National Assembly 2007-01-25 261,947 628,160 41.7%
President 2016-12.01 525,963 886,578 59.3%
If National Assembly elections results were accepted with voter turnout at 38.71% and 41.7% and Presidential Elections at 58.58%, how come the present results cannot be accepted at 59.3%. Scratching my head. THE VOICE AND WILL OF THE GAMBIAN PEOPLE MUST BE ACCEPTED!
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| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 18:27:10
Gambia: Risk of instability and repression
Gambia's president-elect calls for long-time leader to respect election results
Gambian security forces deployed en masse on Saturday as President-elect Adama Barrow appealed for calm, a day after long-time President Yahya Jammeh reversed course to say he would not accept his defeat in December 1 elections due to irregularities.
The African Union called for security forces to remain neutral. Soldiers were in the streets of the capital, Banjul, as Gambians closed down shops in fear of unrest....
ECOWAS, African Union and UN statement on the political developments in the Gambia
The ECOWAS Commission, the African Union Commission and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) have received information that the Gambian incumbent President Yahya Jammeh has rejected the results of the Gambian presidential election of 1 December 2016 that have been officially announced by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Chairperson of the AU Commission and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to West Africa and the Sahel are deeply concerned by these developments. They call on the government of The Gambia to abide by its constitutional responsibilities and international obligations. It is fundamental that the verdict of the ballots should be respected, and that the security of the president -elect Adama Barrow, and that of all Gambian citizen be fully ensured.
ECOWAS, the AU and the UN strongly support the stand of the Senegalese Government on the issue with regards to calling an emergency meeting of the UNSC and urge relevant Gambian stakeholders to contribute to a peaceful transition and orderly handing over of power from the outgoing administration to the President-elect within constitutional deadlines, in accordance with the Gambian electoral laws.
ECOWAS, the AU and the UN urge all Gambian stakeholders including the elected leadership, the armed forces, political parties and Civil Society Organisations to reject violence and peacefully uphold the will of the people as clearly expressed through the ballot box. They also call upon the Gambian Defence and Security forces to live up to their republican duties.
ECOWAS, the AU and the UN stand in solidarity with the people of The Gambia whom they once again commend for the maturity demonstrated throughout the electoral process and commit to continue monitoring developments in The Gambia. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 17:32:09
President- Elect Adama Barrow press conference after President Yahya Jammeh denounce the result of 1st December election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUAU-t3de0
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| rassimian |
Posted - 10 Dec 2016 : 12:00:59
It would almost be laughable if it wasn't so tragic that this man who essentially is a dictator and has caused misery to many Gambian people and is even disliked amongst African Union members now has the affront to challenge the democratic process. If he had lost by a few hundred or thousand votes a challenge would be acceptable but in this case he lost by a large majority. The Gambian people need to be aware of this man. They know him from old. he has been in power for 22 years and still does not want to relinquish power. He should be arrested, put in Mile 2 and then put on trial for crimes against the Gambian people. |
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