The
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on outgoing Gambian
president Yahya Jammeh to respect the outcome of the December 1 polls which
they described as free and fair.
The
OIC in a statement released on Thursday December 14, said they shared the
position of other international and regional organizations which endorsed the
results of the election. Adding that rejection of the results will bring about
instability and undermine national unity.
The
Gambia is a member of the OIC, which is the second largest inter-governmental
organization after the United Nations. It has 56 other member states and the
Gambia is set to host the next summit of the body.
The
statement signed by its Secretary General, Yousuf Al-Othaimeen also said they
supported continued efforts by international and regional bodies aiming to help
fix the current crisis arising from the refusal of Jammeh to accept the results
of the polls.
The
regional political bloc, the Economic Commission of West African States
(ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) led in
condemnation of his new position. The Gambia’s only landed neighbour Senegal also
joined in the condemnation.
ECOWAS
sent a number of African leaders led by its chair Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to
mediate in the situation. The mediation ended in a stalemate after the leaders
met both Jammeh and victor of the polls, president-elect Adama Barrow.
Jammeh
led the Gambia out of the Commonwealth in 2013, The decision to quit the United
Kingdom’s league of nations was because Jammeh’s Gambia was not going to be
part of any neo-colonial institution.
Subsequently,
Jammeh declared the country an Islamic republic in December 2015 as part of
efforts to distance Gambia from its colonial past. Jammeh came to power through
a bloodless coup in 1994, he was elected in 1996 and reelected continuously in
2001, 2006 and 2011.
His
regime has been accused by NGOs and foreign governments of forced
disappearances and harassment of the press and human rights activist, the
government regularly rejects such accusations.
Source:
Africanews.com
