Media bias helped Gambia's Jammeh win election: AU
(Reuters) - Gambian
President Yahya Jammeh benefited from a strong media bias and greater
financial resources than his rivals to secure a new five-year term in
elections, the African Union said on Saturday.
Former military coup leader Jammeh scored a landslide 72 percent
victory on Thursday to extend his 17 year-rule over the tiny West
African country, criticised for alleged human rights abuses and
press-muzzling.
"Although provision was made for equal access of all political
parties and candidates to the public media, the actual coverage was
strongly weighted in favour of the candidate of the ruling party," the
AU observer mission concluded.
"The gross imbalance in the financial and material capability of
the candidates may have resulted in the lack of adequate visibility of
the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Independent candidates," it
said of his main challengers.
The bloc found that there were no acts of intimidation during
voting on Friday and concluded that despite the failings, "the results
are a true reflection of the will of the sovereign people of The
Gambia".
Results showed Jammeh won 470,550 votes, while his closest rival
Ousainou Darboe got 114,177 votes, or 17 percent. Independent candidate
Amath Bah scored 11 percent. Many analysts saw the incumbent's victory
as a foregone conclusion.
Addressing thousands of cheering supporters in the capital
Banjul, Jammeh said Gambia would one day have the best standard of
living not only in Africa but in the world too, and called on rivals to
work with him.
"Those who have lost should come together, so we can work as one
... I will turn this country into a superpower of peace and economic
better in four years time," he said.
Gambians have an average income per head of around $1 a day.
Earlier, Darboe urged Gambians to reject the election as rigged,
while Bah complained of insufficient access to media and funds to
campaign properly.
One of Africa's most controversial rulers, Jammeh announced in
2007 that he had a herbal concoction that cured AIDS, but only on
Thursdays, a claim derided by health experts. He has been criticised for
reported threats to human rights groups and a 2008 order for all
homosexuals to leave Gambia.
Jammeh's standing abroad has been further strained by spats with
Senegal and Guinea, while the West African body ECOWAS said this week it
would not send an observer mission to the polls because it doubted they
would be free and fair.
Gambia is one of only handful of African states not to have diplomatic ties with China because of its recognition of Taiwan.
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