Gambia's shock presidential victor hails new era
BAN AFP JUL, Gambia, Saturday, Opposition candidate Adama Barrow hailed a “new Gambia” Friday after he pulled off a stunning presidential election victory, putting an end to the 22-year rule of Yahya Jammeh.
Jammeh -- who has been frequently accused over the years of suppressing his opponents -conceded defeat on television, accepting that Gambians had “decided that I should take the backseat”.
Official results earlier showed Barrow, a businessman and political unknown until six months ago, comfortably winning Thursday's poll with 45.54 percent, capping a remarkable rise to prominence.
Jammeh took 212,099 votes (36.66 percent) and third party candidate Mama Kandeh 102,969 votes (17.80 percent), the Independent Electoral Commission said.
Gambians took to the streets to celebrate the biggest upset in the west African nation since Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup.
In Westfield, a district near the capital, teenagers piled on top of cars, taking selfies and strumming guitars, while others waved flags coloured the grey of the opposition coalition.
In his first comments afterward, Barrow acknowledged the nation's huge shift.
“It's time for work. It's a new Gambia,” he said.
Barrow was chosen as the opposition flag bearer by a group of political parties who joined forces for the first time and won unprecedented popular support.
Turnout was around 65 percent.
Speaking to the public on Gambian television, Jammeh con- gratulated Barrow for his “clear victory”, adding: “I wish him all the best and I wish all Gambians the best.” Jammeh, who once said he would govern for a billion years if God willed it, was attempting to win a fifth term, but said the result was a decision from the divine that he would respect.
“I will never cheat or dispute the election because this is the most transparent, rig-proof elections in the whole world,” he added, referring to The Gambia's unique system of voting with marbles dropped into coloured drums.