Gambia's Jammeh to contest results in court, ruling party declares

Party of Gambia’s outgoing president Yahya Jammeh has stated on Saturday night that he will rather contest the election results in the Supreme Court per the country’s constitution.

Their statement is a U-turn of what Jammeh said in a televised address on Friday night rejecting the election results and calling for a new election.

“The televised statement was a prelude to the appeal the APRC (Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction) is preparing before the Supreme Court against the fraudulent decision of the Independent Electoral Commission,” the party’s statement read.

Under chapter 5 of Gambia’s constitution, candidates have 10 days from the declaration of results to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The party has until Monday to file their petition against the election results. However, Monday is a holiday.

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.

President Jammeh’s rejection of results attracted a lot of local and international condemnation.

Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow said on Saturday that Jammeh had no authority to reject the results.

The United Nations and African Union also called on Jammeh to step aside while the regional body ECOWAS called on the armed forces to stay neutral.