Gambia's Jammeh in shock election loss after 22-year rule

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Reuters

Gambian leader Yahyah Jammeh, who vowed to rule the tiny West African nation for "a billion years", was handed a shock election defeat on Friday 22 years after seizing power in a coup.

The electoral commission head declared Adama Barrow president-elect on state television, with 45.5 percent of the vote against Jammeh's 36.7 percent.

"Having received 263, 515 votes out of the total votes cast in the election, I hereby declare Adama Barrow newly elected to serve as president of the republic of the Gambia," Alieu Momarr Njai said. He earlier told reporters in Banjul that Jammeh would concede, although he has yet to make a public statement.
...
Earlier this week he said that his "presidency and power are in the hands of Allah and only Allah can take it from me", and on one occasion even said he would remain in office for "a billion years".

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gambia-election-idUSKBN13R18G?il=0

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When they said all access to the internet and international phone calls were cut yesterday, I thought the fix was in. But it seems not. So a businessman who was once a security guard in an Argos in London (like being one is a Target or similar) is now their president. Jammeh was isolating Gambia from the world more and more, so I think this must be a good thing.

[philosslayer]

1. Bad planning

If you say you're going to rule a nation for "a billion years", its usually a bad idea to then hold an election.

[Txbluedog]

2. And it seems he is going to leave office peacefully

Unheard for a dictator

[Archae]

3. I'll believe it when I see it.

He'll declare a "national emergency" or such and say the election actually did go to him.

[WhiteTara]

5. Maybe he can be a role model

for Trump.

[left-of-center2012]

4. "He previously said he had invented a herbal cure for AIDS that only works on Thursdays"

"He has also arrested hundreds of people on suspicion of being witches or wizards,
and threatened to slit the throats of and decapitate homosexuals.

Jammeh's supporters deny abuses ..."

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. The Gambias President Jammeh concedes defeat in election

Jammeh had kept the tiny west African country under an iron grip for more than two decades, and there were fears that the eccentric 51-year-old would use violence or fraud to maintain power.

Instead he became a rare dictator to accept defeat in a democratic election, agreeing to hand power to challenger Adama Barrow, a softly spoken businessman who previously had little public profile.

Barrow said Jammeh had called him to concede defeat with the words: “Congratulations. I’m the outgoing president; you’re the incoming president.”

The father of five used his lack of political baggage to woo voters desperate for change, claiming 45.5% of the vote to Jammeh’s 36.7%. If Jammeh sticks to his word, Barrow will become only the third Gambian head of state since the country’s independence in 1965.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/02/the-gambia-president-jammeh-concede-defeat-in-election

[JI7]

7. This is a good thing

[oberliner]

8. There is actually no evidence that he has done this

He has made no statement publicly and no one from his camp has confirmed that he made such a call.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. He has now:

Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh conceded defeat to opposition leader Adama Barrow on Friday night, accepting that Gambians had "decided that I should take the backseat".

Speaking to the public on Gambian television after Thursday's presidential poll, Jammeh congratulated Barrow for his "clear victory", adding: "I wish him all the best and I wish all Gambians the best."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/33398346/gambias-jammeh-concedes-defeat/#page1

[oberliner]

10. Glad to hear that!

Thanks for getting me up to speed. That is indeed good news.

[oberliner]

11. He seems to have changed his mind

"I hereby reject the results in totality," Jammeh said in a speech broadcast on state television.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/gambias-barrow-to-declare-himself-president-report-20161217

[Hortensis]

12. Let's hope the president elect, Adama Barrow, is the man

he says he is. The current president imposed an internet blackout during the elections, just one suppression technique, but Barrow won by a very large margin.

Btw, some media are doing their typical sleazy, down-dragging job in covering politics. Barrow worked at a low-level job in England for 3 years while studying there over a decade ago. Whatever he is, the impression some leave of some jumped-up low-wage worker elevated to head-of-state by a backwards African nation is not accurate. He has little or no background in politics, so they're left without previous articles to quote from. We know he is a Gambian businessman, a Muslim with 2 wives and 5 children, who speaks in ways we would like to hear.

http://qz.com/852974/gambias-president-elect-adama-barrow-lays-out-his-vision-for-a-nation-mired-in-fear-and-poverty-after-22-years-of-yahya-jammehs-autocratic-rule/

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Gambia's electoral commission chief 'goes into hiding'

There are unconfirmed reports that Alieu Momar Njai, who announced Yahya Jammeh's defeat in the polls last month, has fled the country.
...
Three private radio stations have been taken off air in the country since Sunday, in the first sign of a media crackdown since the president's election defeat.

Diplomatic efforts to convince Mr Jammeh to accept defeat have so far proved unsuccessful.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas, which has been leading these efforts, has threatened sanctions against Mr Jammeh if he does not step down.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38501043