By Saikou Kalleh

BANJUL, Gambia

President-elect Adama Barrow said Saturday that it was “unconstitutional” for President Yahya Jammeh to declare an annulment of the country’s recent election results.

Barrow told a group of journalists at his residence just outside of Banjul that he is the president-elect of Gambia and would be sworn in at a yet to be announced date in January.

“The outgoing president told me in a simple clear language that the results were the verdict of the people and God,” he said. “Everybody applauded the actions of the outgoing president. Yesterday the outgoing president issued a statement on the national media to reject the outcome of polls,” Barrow said.

Jammeh announced in a nationally televised address Friday night that he rejected the outcome of the election in its “totality”, citing irregularities.

Barrow said Jammeh does not have the authority to reject the results nor order a new vote – actions he said falls to the Independent Election Commission (IEC). “The IEC is the only competent authority to announce the results of elections and declare a winner. It was already done sure and I am the president elect,” he said.

Barrow, who leads the opposition coalition, said the group would “open up a channel of communication to try to convince” the president to “facilitate a smooth transfer of executive power in the supreme interest of this country”.

Fears of chaos and violence have risen across the small West African nation of 1.9 million residents since Jammeh’s declaration.

But coalition spokesman Halifa Sallah told journalists following the press conference that Gambia is not in a crisis and is not threatened by Jammeh’s words.

Currently military checkpoints have been set up across Gambia in combat fashion, behind sand bags.

Sallah said he could not provide details about communications between the coalition and Jammeh but there is hope the president would receive advice from his party to revise his decision.