Gambia: 'No court on earth' can cancel Barrow's victory – opposition fumes

Gambian opposition are talking tough on the political situation in the country despite the strong stance taken by incumbent Yahya Jammeh.

The opposition on Friday at a press conference held in Banjul said, the outcome of the December 1 polls said the victory of candidate Adama Barrow was final and “no court on earth” will be able to cancel it.

“President-elect Adama Barrow is sure to have won the election and that no court on this earth will be able to take a contrary decision,” said opposition coalition spokesman Halifa Sallah.

“It is his position that he (Barrow) is not going to rely on what the Court is going to do but on the results of the election and we will not speculate on what this Court will decide,” added M Sallah.

He further called on Gambians to focus on preparing for Barrow’s inauguration on 19 January. According to the Constitution, the current mandate of Yahya Jammeh will expire on that date.

The Supreme Court early this week slated January 10 to examine the appeal of the party of President Yahya Jammeh, which calls for the cancellation of the presidential election on 1 December. They announced that judges had been imported from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to sit on the case.

Mr. Jammeh’s party lodged an appeal on 13 December, complaining in particular of irregularities in the counting of results by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and “intimidation” of its voters in a region.