Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The ruling party of The Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to void the recent presidential election result.

The filing seen by AFP said the electoral commission had violated the law and added opposition leader Adama Barrow was "not duly elected or returned as president, and that the said election was void." </s> Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Veteran Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh announced a legal challenge to an election in which he had already conceded defeat, in a weekend of dramatic twists that sparked international furore and fear of a crackdown in the west African state.

A week after conceding defeat to upstart rival Adama Barrow in the December 1 vote, Jammeh rejected the polls on Friday, citing "unacceptable errors" by election authorities.

His ruling party on Saturday qualified Jammeh's declaration as being "a prelude to a petition that the APRC party is in the process of filing before the Supreme Court".

An avalanche of international criticism rained down on immediately Jammeh, who has led the tiny sliver of a nation of two million for 22 years since taking over in a coup.

The UN Security Council unanimously demanded he hand over power, and "strongly condemned" the about-face.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is also the chairwoman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Jammeh's reversal "threatened peace".

She issued a plea in a statement late Saturday for Jammeh to "do the right thing and take actions to facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition in The Gambia."

Sirleaf's plane was apparently refused the right to enter The Gambia as a mediator over the weekend.

Security forces on Sunday continued to pile into the capital Banjul where locals weighed the possibility of protest against fear of a crackdown.

Jammeh's swift concession of defeat had initially stunned observers and led to celebrations across the country.

A readjustment of the votes counted in the December 1 presidential election was made on Monday, reducing vote numbers for all three candidates but ultimately assuring Barrow's victory.

In his speech on Friday, Jammeh said he would now "reject the results in totality," and called for new elections.

One senior member of the Gambian legal community told AFP: "the president doesn't have the power to nullify the election."

By Sunday afternoon on the edges of the strategic highway that leads to Banjul, sandbags were being piled high as soldiers dug trenches out behind them.

Troops armed with assault rifles were stationed at some of these makeshift positions, eyeing the road leading to Jammeh's Banjul stronghold.

On the city's outskirts, joy had given way to nervousness as more troops watched citizens prepare for a Muslim religious holiday.

"We don't feel good; we don't feel happy. We have a new president," said Ibrahim Sisay, a businessman visiting the market in the populous Serekunda district.

Sisay said an international intervention would be welcomed by many Gambians.

"We want anyone to come. Senegal are the closest people to us but anyone, even the Japanese!" he told AFP.

Some were discussing protests while others said the cost could be heavy.

"People are afraid. If we go out on the streets he could kill us," said Assan Njie, a delivery man.

Latest official figures gave Barrow 43.29 percent of the votes in the presidential election, while Jammeh took 39.64 percent. The turnout was 59 percent.

Those figures reflect the correction issued Monday by election authorities, showing a slimmer-than-thought victory for Barrow, of just over 19,000 votes.

Constitutionally Jammeh has 10 days after the election result is declared to file a complaint, but that deadline -- December 12 -- is a bank holiday, meaning he may have an extra day in lieu.

His lawyers might also argue he has 10 days after the recount declaration, according to legal experts.

The Supreme Court has not sat in more than a year, so judges will have to be appointed before they can consider the president's legal complaint, potentially delaying Barrow's inauguration.

Jammeh, a devout Muslim who seized power in 1994 in the former British colony, warned Gambians not to take to the streets to protest his decision, raising concerns from rights groups.

Barrow on Saturday called on Jammeh to drop his challenge, while the UN, US and other foreign authorities lambasted the leader and urged Gambians to keep the peace. </s> Banjul. The UN Security Council on Saturday demanded that Gambia’s leader Yahya Jammeh hand over power to the president-elect after he rejected the election results in a dramatic political U-turn.

In a unanimous statement, the 15 council members called on Jammeh to “respect the choice of the sovereign people of The Gambia, as he did on December 2 2016, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr Adama Barrow.”

In power for the past 22 years in the West African country, Jammeh surprised his critics when he accepted defeat a day after the December 1 vote.

But he reversed course on Friday, announcing he no longer accepted the results. Council members “strongly condemned” Jammeh’s decision to reject the results and call for a new election. They urged him to “carry out a peaceful and orderly transition process and they requested that the security of the president-elect Adama Barrow, and that of all Gambian citizen be fully ensured.”

A consensus candidate backed by a coalition of opposition groups, Barrow on Saturday urged Jammeh to accept defeat, arguing he had no legal standing for the turnaround.

Senegal, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, has requested a meeting to discuss the crisis, which could be held on Monday, diplomats said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “dismayed” by Jammeh’s rejection of the election results and called on him to “fully respect the outcome of the election”.

Ban called for a “peaceful, timely and orderly transfer of power, in full respect of the will of the Gambian people as expressed in the election”, said a statement from his spokesman. ( AFP) </s> Four more cabinet ministers in Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s government have defected, a source close to the regime told AFP on Tuesday, as citizens stream out of the country in fear of unrest.

With two days left of his mandate, Jammeh has caused a political crisis by refusing to step aside and allow president-elect Adama Barrow to take power following his December 1 election victory.

Foreign minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, finance minister Abdou Kolley, trade minister Abdou Jobe and tourism minister Benjamin Roberts had all resigned, the source said, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.

Roberts was appointed to replace Kolley on Monday, meaning he spent less than 24 hours in the new post, local media said.

The latest resignations came after the high-profile defection last week of information minister Sheriff Bojang, who is now sheltering in neighbouring Senegal.

Meanwhile, citizens packed their bags and streamed out of Banjul by road and ferry for Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, taking as many possessions as they could carry.

One traveller told AFP that those arriving at 10am would have to wait until the following day to board a ferry at Banjul port to cross the river headed for Senegal, unless they bribed officials, due to huge numbers exiting the city.

The UN’s refugee agency has said several thousand Gambians have crossed the border in the last few weeks to shelter with extended family while they await January 19, when Jammeh is due to hand over power.

Barrow is in Senegal, where he plans to remain until the inauguration on Thursday.

The spectre of a military intervention in The Gambia has arisen in recent days following declarations by the United Nations and African Union that boots on the ground could get the green light without a rapid resolution to the crisis.

Fears of conflict were ramped up in Banjul following the weekend arrest of soldiers suspected of being sympathetic to Barrow, underlining significant disagreement within the armed forces over whom they will support come Thursday.

“Captain Babucarr Bah and some junior officers close to him were arrested on Sunday night at the Fajara barracks by members of the Republican Guards,” a security source told AFP, adding they were still being held at the headquarters of the feared National Intelligence Agency.

Republican guard commanders personally protect Jammeh and are picked for their loyalty.

Bah had told the guards that the army should be loyal to the state and Gambian people, the security source added, when the elite troops came to solicit support for the president just days ago.

Elsewhere Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hit out at Jammeh for broadcasting a conversation they held by phone on Sunday on Gambian television without her knowledge.

“Unfortunately, being the person that he is, Jammeh recorded and televised their conversation without advising her of his intent to do so,” a statement from the Liberian presidency said.

Sirleaf was then quoted as saying that as of Monday “there is no change in ECOWAS position. The Constitution of The Gambia must be respected.”

The 15-nation Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has repeatedly called on Jammeh to respect the result of the vote and leave after 22 years in power.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sirleaf and Ghana’s ex-president John Mahama have appealed to Jammeh to step down twice in person, without success, most recently on Friday.

Jammeh has lodged a challenge to the election result with The Gambia’s Supreme Court and last week filed a fresh injunction to prevent the chief justice from swearing Barrow into office.

But on Monday, Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle said he could not hear the new case, dealing a blow to Jammeh’s efforts to halt Thursday’s inauguration.

In Rabat, it was reported that Morocco had offered Jammeh asylum for accepting the election defeat and stepping down “in return for a golden retirement”, but Banjul sources were reluctant to confirm the offer. </s> Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh said he would not recognise the results of December 1 elections (AFP Photo/Issouf Sanogo)

Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Veteran Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh announced a legal challenge to an election in which he had already conceded defeat, in a weekend of dramatic twists that sparked international furore and fear of a crackdown in the west African state.

A week after conceding defeat to upstart rival Adama Barrow in the December 1 vote, Jammeh rejected the polls on Friday, citing "unacceptable errors" by election authorities.

His ruling party on Saturday qualified Jammeh's declaration as being "a prelude to a petition that the APRC party is in the process of filing before the Supreme Court".

An avalanche of international criticism rained down on immediately Jammeh, who has led the tiny sliver of a nation of two million for 22 years since taking over in a coup.

The UN Security Council unanimously demanded he hand over power, and "strongly condemned" the about-face.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is also the chairwoman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Jammeh's reversal "threatened peace".

She issued a plea in a statement late Saturday for Jammeh to "do the right thing and take actions to facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition in The Gambia."

Sirleaf's plane was apparently refused the right to enter The Gambia as a mediator over the weekend.

Security forces on Sunday continued to pile into the capital Banjul where locals weighed the possibility of protest against fear of a crackdown.

Jammeh's swift concession of defeat had initially stunned observers and led to celebrations across the country.

A readjustment of the votes counted in the December 1 presidential election was made on Monday, reducing vote numbers for all three candidates but ultimately assuring Barrow's victory.

In his speech on Friday, Jammeh said he would now "reject the results in totality," and called for new elections.

One senior member of the Gambian legal community told AFP: "the president doesn't have the power to nullify the election."

By Sunday afternoon on the edges of the strategic highway that leads to Banjul, sandbags were being piled high as soldiers dug trenches out behind them.

Troops armed with assault rifles were stationed at some of these makeshift positions, eyeing the road leading to Jammeh's Banjul stronghold.

On the city's outskirts, joy had given way to nervousness as more troops watched citizens prepare for a Muslim religious holiday.

"We don't feel good; we don't feel happy. We have a new president," said Ibrahim Sisay, a businessman visiting the market in the populous Serekunda district.

Sisay said an international intervention would be welcomed by many Gambians.

"We want anyone to come. Senegal are the closest people to us but anyone, even the Japanese!" he told AFP.

Some were discussing protests while others said the cost could be heavy.

"People are afraid. If we go out on the streets he could kill us," said Assan Njie, a delivery man.

Latest official figures gave Barrow 43.29 percent of the votes in the presidential election, while Jammeh took 39.64 percent. The turnout was 59 percent.

Those figures reflect the correction issued Monday by election authorities, showing a slimmer-than-thought victory for Barrow, of just over 19,000 votes.

Constitutionally Jammeh has 10 days after the election result is declared to file a complaint, but that deadline -- December 12 -- is a bank holiday, meaning he may have an extra day in lieu.

His lawyers might also argue he has 10 days after the recount declaration, according to legal experts.

The Supreme Court has not sat in more than a year, so judges will have to be appointed before they can consider the president's legal complaint, potentially delaying Barrow's inauguration.

Jammeh, a devout Muslim who seized power in 1994 in the former British colony, warned Gambians not to take to the streets to protest his decision, raising concerns from rights groups.

Barrow on Saturday called on Jammeh to drop his challenge, while the UN, US and other foreign authorities lambasted the leader and urged Gambians to keep the peace. </s> Banjul. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said Tuesday that no protests would be permitted after a two-week electoral campaign, as rallies in favour of opposition leader Adama Barrow reached boiling point in the capital, Banjul.

A day of opposition protests ahead of a presidential election in two days’ time highlighted deep divisions over Jammeh’s 22-year-rule, while the president took the opportunity to say his opponents could not succeed.

Barrow, a businessman, emerged from obscurity to become the flagbearer of all The Gambia’s opposition parties bar one after mass arrests of supporters from the largest anti-government grouping in April.

“People have shown us tremendous support. With that support we are 100 percent plus that we are going to win and with a big margin,” he told AFP on the final day of the campaign. With no official opinion polls, it is difficult to corroborate Barrow’s claim, but diplomatic sources have indicated in recent days that Jammeh faces his most significant challenge since taking power in a 1994 coup.

“If Jammeh wants advice if he loses, let him accept the will of the people and accept the value of the Gambian people,” Barrow said.

Rights bodies and media watchdogs including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accuse Jammeh of cultivating a “pervasive climate of fear” and of crushing dissent against his regime, one cause of the mass exodus of Gambian youths to Europe.

At a rally near the capital Tuesday, people shouted “Step down!” as they waved red cards demanding Jammeh’s removal after 22 years in power. “He killed dozens of our brothers, he’s a killer,” one man shouted. (AFP) </s> BANJUL, Gambia (AP) — The Latest on Gambia’s political crisis, sparked by defeated leader Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to leave office (all times local):

Red carpets have been laid out at the airport in Gambia’s capital in what appears to be preparations for a speech and a departure.

West African leaders have been meeting with defeated leader Yahya Jammeh in an effort to persuade him to cede power to newly inaugurated leader Adama Barrow. A regional force is poised to push him out if talks fail.

The red carpets are laid out for a wooden podium and for the Mauritanian plane that brought the leaders to Banjul.

Gambia’s newly inaugurated leader has prayed for peace in the country he has yet to return to.

The Twitter account run by supporters of Adama Barrow posted a photo Friday evening of Barrow praying with Senegal President Macky Sall.

“We prayed for peace in Gambia,” the tweet says.

Barrow was sworn in Thursday at Gambia’s embassy in neighboring Senegal, where he has been for several days amid fears for his safety.

South Africa says it recognizes Adama Barrow as the legitimate president of Gambia and “looks forward to a close working relationship with him and the people of The Gambia.”

The statement from South Africa’s foreign affairs department also “urges former President Yahya Jammeh to cooperate with ECOWAS, and should step down peacefully.”

It says it hopes Barrow “returns to his country to assume the role democratically bestowed on him by the people of The Gambia.” Barrow is in neighboring Senegal, where he was inaugurated Thursday.

Gambia’s chief of defense forces has pledged his allegiance to the country’s new president Friday, a major shift as mediation continued to persuade defeated Yahya Jammeh to cede power.

Ousmane Badjie told The Associated Press the country’s security services all support the newly inaugurated Adama Barrow and said they would not fight a regional force that is poised to push out Jammeh if the current negotiations talks fail.

Comments

 WTOP is now using Facebook as our comment platform. Need help? Email us </s> BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after refusing to hand power to opposition leader Adama Barrow, who won an election last month.

State television said the emergency would prevent a power vacuum while the supreme court rules on Jammeh's petition challenging the election result.

That suggests Jammeh will stay in power beyond Thursday, when Barrow was due to be sworn in as president.

Regional leaders have threatened to intervene militarily if Jammeh does not step down and on Tuesday a senior Nigerian army source said Nigeria and other West African states were preparing a military force.

"I...hereby declare a state of public emergency throughout the Islamic Republic of Gambia," Jammeh's declaration said.

The state of emergency banned "acts of disobedience" and "acts intended to disturb public order".

Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994 as only the second president since Gambia's independence in 1965 and his government gained a reputation for torturing and killing perceived opponents, rights groups say. In 2015, he declared that the country was an Islamic Republic.

Pro-democracy activists across Africa welcomed his defeat and his refusal to step down has provoked an internal crisis as well as a test of mettle for regional leaders.

Gambia's top judge on Monday declined to rule on Jammeh's election petition and in a political blow to the president, the ministers of finance, foreign affairs, trade and the environment have resigned, according to ministry sources.

The Nigerian source said that defense chiefs of staff of West African countries met on Monday to discuss strategies to remove Jammeh.

"Some West African countries will be contributing troops, including Nigeria, for the operation," said the source, adding that the United Nations and African Union had offered support to regional body ECOWAS for the plan.

State television said on Monday Finance Minister Abdou Kolley was being replaced by Benjamin Roberts, the Minister of Tourism. Finance ministry sources said on Tuesday Roberts had also resigned.

Ministry sources said other government figures, including Foreign Minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, had left the government and the country. The mayor of the capital Banjul has also resigned, according to sources at the city council.

Hundreds of Gambians have fled into Senegal, Gambia's only neighbor, fearing for their safety because of the turmoil, and Senegalese authorities have increased security. Barrow is also in Senegal, his aides say.

"We are scared. There are soldiers with guns all the time," said Awa Sanneh, 25, from Birkama in Gambia, who was leaving with two children and 24 other family members.

One of the smallest countries in Africa, Gambia is reliant on tourism and one main crop, peanuts, to fuel its economy. </s> Banjul. The UN Security Council on Monday urged Gambia’s longtime leader Yahya Jammeh to meet with international mediators who have been dispatched to Banjul to persuade him to hand over power.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf along with the presidents of Sierra Leone, Ghana and the UN envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, are set to arrive in Banjul on Tuesday.

Council members “urge President Jammeh to meet and cooperate with the UN-ECOWAS high-level delegation that will visit Banjul tomorrow,” said Spanish Deputy Ambassador Juan Manuel Gonzalez de Linares.

The council met behind closed doors at Senegal’s request to discuss the crisis over Jammeh’s refusal to recognize the outcome of the December 1 election.

Jammeh, in power for 22 years, had accepted defeat a day after the vote, but backtracked a week later, saying he rejected the outcome and calling for a new vote.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said it was a “very dangerous moment” for the West African country, citing reports that some military officers have sided with Jammeh in the standoff.

The Security Council on Saturday released a unanimous statement demanding that Jammeh “transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to President-elect Adama Barrow.”Gonzales said the council “reiterated the full contents” of that statement during their meeting on Monday and called for maximum restraint. The deputy ambassador said there was no specific discussion of measures to force Jammeh to step down.

“In this moment, our maximum priority is to support the high-level visit that is going to take place tomorrow in Banjul,” he said.. (AFP)
Gambian security forces are deployed on the streets of the capital Banjul, following President Yahya Jammeh's rejection of last week's presidential election result.