The Gambia's presidential election: Between hope and tension
The Gambia will be holding an election on 4 December to elect a new president for another five-year term.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), a total of six candidates will be vying for the post. Including Adama Barrow, the current president running with his newly founded party, the National People’s Party (NPP); Ousainou Darboe with the United Democratic Party, the main opponent of Adama Barrow; Mama Kandeh, founder of the Gambia Democratic Congress group, among others. The voting will be the first since 2016 that saw the exile of former President Yahya Jammeh in its aftermath. More importantly, it is also set to be a litmus test for Gambia’s democratic transition in the post-Jammeh era, especially when Barrow’s government has been accused of numerous human-rights violations for the past several years. Amid such concern, the European Union (EU) will send 70 election observers to assist the IEC in monitoring the election and risk of tension running high is possible should the voting process be found to be fraudulent.