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Gambia’s incumbent declared presidential election winner

Jammeh, who has turned 56, is known for his saying "Only God can remove me from power." He took office in 1994

PRETORIA, November 26 (Itar-Tass) —— Gambia’s incumbent President Yahya Jammeh has been declared the winner of the presidential election. He contested the post for a fourth time.

According to election commission officials, Jammeh, the leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, won 72 percent of the votes. His closest pursuer, secretary-general of the oppositional United Democratic Party, Ousaineou Darboe, got 17 percent. The election turnout totaled 800 thousand.

Jammeh, who has turned 56, is known for his saying "Only God can remove me from power." He took office in 1994.

The regional union Economic Community of West African States did not send observers to the elections, saying that the authorities did not provide conditions for a "free, fair and transparent" election. Nevertheless, the election was attended by about 350 observers.

Voting in the smallest of the countries of mainland Africa, Gambia, was carried out on the basis of a unique system inherited from the time of British colonial rule. Voters put a special token in the form of a piece of marble into a narrow pipe leading to a metal barrel, painted the color of the selected party.