Yahya Jammeh, The Gambia's long-time ruler, has
lost the presidential election to the opposition leader, according to the
electoral commission.
Adama
Barrow's victory in the West African country may bring to an end Jammeh's
22-year rule.
Jammeh,
who came to power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army officer following a military
coup, had won four previous polls.
Adama
received 263,515 votes while Jammeh won 212,099, Alieu Momarr Njai, the
electoral commission head, announced in the capital Banjul on Friday.
"Having
received 263,515 votes of the total votes cast in the election, I hereby
declare Adama Barrow duly elected to serve as president of the Republic of
Gambia," Njai said.
Barrow
told Reuters news agency by telephone on Friday he was expecting a phone call
from Jammeh conceding defeat.
Many
Gambians stayed up all night listening to the radio and tallying results as
they were read out constituency by constituency.
News
of Barrow's victory prompted thousands to take to the streets in celebration -
some on foot while others rode in cars and trucks and on motorbikes - as
confused soldiers looked on.
"There
will be celebrations, there will be disappointment, but we all know we are all
Gambia," Njai said, calling for peace, tolerance and tranquility to be
respected as it was during campaigning.
Gambians
voted Thursday by placing marbles into drums marked for each candidate.
Eight
opposition parties united behind Barrow, a former businessman, and the campaign
period featured large opposition rallies and unprecedented expressions of
frustration with Jammeh's rule.
Nevertheless,
Jammeh had projected confidence, saying his victory was all but assured by God
and predicting "the biggest landslide in the history of the country"
after he voted on Thursday.
Defeat
and a concession from Jammeh would be momentous.
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