Banjul – The Gambia’s leading opposition party on Tuesday said it had petitioned the Supreme Court to annul a December election victory for President Adama Barrow, citing irregularities.
Barrow, whose election in 2016 put an end to more than 20 years of dictatorship in the tiny West African nation, won a second term in a December 4 vote, according to official results.
The former property developer notched up 53% of the ballot, far ahead of political veteran Ousainou Darboe’s 27.7%.
On Tuesday, Darboe’s United Democratic Party stated that it had petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify those results over alleged corruption and bribery that it said marred the campaign.
Barrow and his party members allegedly promised cash in exchange for votes, the petition said.
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It also argued that the election was invalid because numerous foreign nationals had allegedly cast votes, among other irregularities.
In a separate statement, Darboe said his party is committed to using “exclusively pacific means” to settle disputes.
Sporadic clashes broke out near the Gambian capital Banjul after the results were announced earlier this month, after which Darboe urged calm.
The vote marked the first election in The Gambia, a former British colony of 2 million people, since former dictator Yahya Jammeh fled into exile.
Jammeh ruled for 22 years after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1994, with his regime accused of using death squads and torture, among other abuses.
The ex-autocrat fled to Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after Barrow, then a relative unknown, defeated him at the ballot box.
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Source: AFP
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