Gambia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a legal plea to President Adama Barrow’s recent election victory, ruling that the petition had not followed proper procedure, court documents showed, reported Reuters.
In a judgment announcement on Tuesday, Chief Justice Hassan B Jallow wrote the United Democratic Party (UDP) failed to comply with the requirement of Rule 11 of the Election Petition Rule, which required for the filing of a motion or petition and security.
Barrow, who came to power in 2016, won a second term in the December 4 polls. According to results declared by Gambia’s election commission, the incumbent president garnered 53 percent of the vote, while his main opponent, Ousainou Darboe, came in at second place with 27.7% of the vote for the United Democratic Party (UDP). Two other candidates also didn’t accept the poll results, citing alleged irregularities at polling stations.
Darboe filed a legal petition that accused Barrow and his political party of inducing voters with cash and gifts ahead of the December vote. In the petition, he claimed that foreign nationals were made to cast ballots illegally and that voting and the vote-counting procedure were also marred by irregularities.
After the court’s ruling, the 73-year-old Darboe wrote in a Facebook post that he did not consider the court’s decision a personal loss since the petition was rejected due to a procedural technicality.
“We have not lost anything because the petition was not dismissed based on merit but a mere technicality,” Darboe said. “We should be proud of ourselves for what we have done and will continue to do for the country.”
Darboe did not mention if his party would continue to challenge the election results. Notably, Gambia’s Supreme Court decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
Barrow’s swearing-in ceremony is currently scheduled to be held on January 19.
