Jammeh can't name election petition judges - Gambia opposition warns

Gambia’s opposition coalition led by President-elect Adama Barrow has stated that it is unconstitutional for outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to appoint judges to hear his election petition.

They said in a statement read to journalists on Monday in the capital Banjul that Jammeh has no constitutional authority to do so as he is leaving office.

The seven-party coalition called on the outgoing president to hand over power and step down immediately.

The Gambia’s electoral commission chief, Alieu Momarr Njai, also warned President Yahya Jammeh that his bid to overturn the election result will not change the fact that he lost to Adama Barrow.

Yahya Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) said on Sunday that it was preparing to challenge the result at the Supreme Court.

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

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.

December 12 is 10 days after the election results were announced but as it is a statutory holiday, the ruling APRC is expected to file its complaint on Tuesday, December 13.