The UN Security
Council has asked outgoing Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to carry out a
peaceful and orderly transition of power to the president-elect, Adama
Barrow, the opposition leader who was declared the winner of the
December 1 election.
In a press statement issued on Saturday,
December 10, 2016, the 15-member Council “strongly condemned the
outgoing Gambian President’s rejection of the official election results proclaimed by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission”.
The UN Council asked Jammeh “to respect
the choice of the sovereign people of Gambia, as he did on December 2,
and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the
President-elect, Mr. Adama Barrow.”
It also urged all parties to exercise
maximum restraint, refrain from violence and remain calm, and requested
that the security of Barrow and that of all Gambians be fully ensured.
The Council also called on the support
by the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWAS) and international partners,
especially the ECOWAS, to preserve stability in the Gambia and work
towards the installation of a democratically elected government in the
country.
The Council members also commended the
Gambian people for the peaceful and transparent conduct of elections on
Dec. 2, and expressed their commitment to continue to closely follow the
evolution of the situation in the country.
The Security Council recalled the
relevant provisions of Article 23 (4) of the AU Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance.
It further called on Jammeh to respect
the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance and the African
Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, notably the rejection of
unconstitutional changes of Government. (NAN)
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