Gambian Parliament Extends Jammeh’s Term

Gambia’s National Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday allowing President Yahya Jammeh to stay in office for three more months.

President Yahya Jammeh
President Yahya Jammeh

The decision announced on state television is expected to raise tension with leaders of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) who have threatened sanctions or military force to make Jammeh hand over power to opposition leader Adama Barrow, the declared winner of the presidential election held in December.

The parliamentary resolution came a day after Jammeh declared a state of emergencydue to the unprecedented and extraordinary amount of foreign inference in the December 1 presidential elections and also in the internal affairs of The Gambia“.

Jammeh claimed on state television that this had created an “unwarranted hostile atmosphere, threatening the sovereignty, peace, security and stability of the country“. According to the Gambian constitution, a state of emergency lasts seven days if the president declares it unilaterally, but up to 90 days if the national assembly confirms it.

Wednesday’s parliamentary vote came on the eve of the January 19 inauguration of Barrow, whose election victory Jammeh initially recognised before promptly changing his mind.

Barrow is currently in Senegal and could, in theory, be sworn in as president at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, which is technically on Gambian soil.