BANJUL, Gambia: Gambians voted on Saturday in the first presidential election in the tiny West African nation since former dictator Yahya Jammeh fled into exile. The voting will be closely watched as a test of the democratic transition in The Gambia, where Jammeh ruled for 22 years after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
The ex-autocrat was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after Adama Barrow, then a relative unknown, defeated him at the ballot box. President Barrow, 56, is now running for re-election, and faces five other candidates.
Voting near the presidential palace, he predicted "the biggest landslide victory in the history of this country," saying "in the next 24 hours my people will be celebrating in the streets".
Polls opened at 0800 GMT, with long lines forming well before dawn in the capital Banjul. Nearly 500 people lined up around the block at a market in the Banjul neighbourhood of Manjai Kunda, ready for hours of waiting. "I expect that people vote peacefully," said voter Alice Jarjue, 27.
"Gambia is a peaceful country and we should maintain it that way. If another one (than your candidate) wins, you should respect that." Babacar Diallo, 48, lined up early to vote. "It is a very important to vote because we want change," he said. "The times have been hard, the economy is bad."
Many voters in the nation of more than two million people are hoping for an improvement in their living standards.
The Gambia, a sliver of land about 480 kilometres long, which is surrounded by Senegal, is one of the poorest countries in the world. About half of the population live on less than $1.90 per day, the World Bank says.
The tourism-dependent economy in the former British colony was also dealt a severe blow by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Barrow is running on a continuity ticket, pointing to infrastructure projects completed under his watch, as well as increased civil liberties.
Political veteran Ousainou Darboe is considered by observers to be the leading opposition candidate. Speaking as he voted in Serekunda, near Banjul, Darboe thanked God, saying "he has given me the strength to conduct my country".
The 73-year-old is a lawyer who has represented opponents of Jammeh, and who ran for president against the former dictator several times. He also served as foreign minister and then vice president under Barrow, before stepping down in 2019. - AFP
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