The United Nations Security Council has condemned Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh for refusing to accept the results of last week’s presidential election, urging him to facilitate a peaceful and orderly transition of power.
The Council, which is composed of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 10 non-permanent members, said it “strongly condemned” Saturday’s announcement from Jammeh, who had earlier accepted his defeat.
“[The members of the Security Council] called on him to respect the choice of the sovereign People of The Gambia, as he did on 2 December 2016, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr. Adama Barrow,” the statement said.
The council added: “The Members of the Security Council urged the outgoing President 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.”
According to results released by the electoral commission, Barrow won last week’s election with 43.3 percent of the vote. Jammeh received 39.6 percent while a third-party candidate, Mama Kandeh, received 17.1 percent.
Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years and once vowed to rule the African country for a billion years, announced early Saturday morning that he would not accept the election results, claiming “abnormalities” in the vote and calling for a new election.
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