UN: Gambia's Jammeh must step down by mid January

to admit electoral
defeat, the UN has
told Gambian leader
Yahya Jammeh to step
down next month.


ammeh lost the
December 1 election
to opposition leader
Adama Barrow.
Jammeh would be "strongly
sanctioned" if he sought to
remain in power after his
mandate ends on January
19, the United Nations
envoy for West Africa said
Wednesday.
"For Mr. Jammeh, the end is
here and under no
circumstances can he
continue to be president,"
the world body's
Mohammed Ibn Chambas
said.
He spoke a day
after Jammeh's party, the
Alliance for Patriotic
Reconciliation and
Construction (APRC) lodged
a legal case to challenge the
result of the December 1
election.
APRC called on the
country's Supreme Court to
annul the vote, even though
the court is not operational
at present because Jammeh
fired two of its three judges
earlier this year.
New poll requested
The petition demanded a
new election take place with
a revalidated voter registry.
Jammeh initially
acknowledged defeat after
22 years in power, even
calling the election fair and
conceding to President-elect
Adama Barrow in a
telephone call broadcast on
state television.
But last week the 51-year-
old announced he was
rejecting the results.
The country's Electoral
Commission insists the vote
was transparent, fair and
accurate, clearly showing
that Barrow had won.
On Wednesday, an African
Union (AU) delegation met
with Jammeh, hoping to
persuade him to step down.
Dozens of professional
bodies, unions, and civil
society organizations have
also added their voice to the
calls for Jammeh to respect
the result.
Tensions rise
For the past two days,
security forces have blocked
the entrance to the Electoral
Commission in Banjul,
ignoring calls from UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon to "immediately
vacate" the premises.
Ban called the takeover of
the building an "outrageous
act of disrespect of the will
of the Gambian people."
Jammeh's chief of
the defense staff has vowed
to remain loyal to the
country's longtime leader,
indicating that Gambia's
military would help the
autocrat stay in power.
Soldiers remained in the
streets of the capital, Banjul,
on Wednesday as residents
worried about possible
unrest, a stark contrast to
days of celebration in the
streets after Jammeh's loss.
Many shops remained
closed, while residents
stayed indoors and children
did not attend school due to
the heavy military presence.