Desk Report
Publish: 05 Dec 2021, 08:03 pm
Security forces members queue at a polling station to vote during the presidential election, in Banjul, Gambia, December 4, 2021 || Photo: REUTERS
Gambian President Adama Barrow
had a narrow early lead after Saturday's presidential election, according to
provisional results from the first few constituencies to be verified by the
electoral commission.
In a test of stability and
democratic progress, the small West African country is holding its first
election since former President Yahya Jammeh was voted out of office in 2016,
ending 22 years of autocratic rule, reports reuters.
Barrow, a 56-year-old former
security guard and property developer, ran against five rivals, including his
former political mentor, Ousainou Darboe, 73, who was seen as the main
challenger.
Preliminary results from four of
the 53 constituencies showed Barrow in the lead with 14,599 votes vs. Darboe's
6,188, the election commission's chairman, Alieu Momarr Njai, said on state
television in the early hours of Sunday.
Under the simple majority system,
provisional results are expected to be announcedlater on Sunday with numbers
from individual constituencies released in the interim.
Gambia uses a unique voting
system - marbles dropped into each candidate's ballot drum - to avoid spoiled
ballots in a nation with a high illiteracy rate.
Jammeh, who was defeated by an
opposition coalition that backed current President Barrow, fled to Equatorial
Guinea in 2017 after refusing to accept defeat.
Earlier on Saturday, Barrow cast
his vote in Banjul and said he was confident of victory.
"I'm happy to see a large
turnout from Gambian voters," he said, accompanied by his two wives.
Nearly 1 million people from a
population of 2.5 million are registered to vote in Gambia, mainland Africa's
smallest country.
"I want to see a better
Gambia, a far better Gambia than the previous years," said civil servant
Bubacarr Kanteh, 39, outside a polling station.
Other candidates include Essa
Mbye Faal, who served as chief counsel of Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and
Reparations Commission that chronicled the abuses of Jammeh's rule, and Mama
Kandeh, who came third in 2016 and is backed by Jammeh.
As campaigning wrapped up on
Thursday, hundreds of jubilant Barrow supporters gathered in downtown Banjul
for a final rally, hoping another Barrow term would secure stability as Gambia
seeks to put Jammeh's rule behind it.
Critics, however, say Barrow has
broken his promises, pointing to how he backtracked on a pledge to serve only
three years after winning in 2016. Barrow has argued the constitution requires
him to serve out a full five-year term.
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Topic : Gambia Presidential Election
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