The United Democratic Party insisted that the December presidential election was not transparent as it reacted to the Supreme Court ruling on its legal case against President Adama Barrow and the Independent Electoral Commission with disappointment.
The party said in a statement they had applied for costs of 300,000 dalasis was ordered and paid immediately within the five-day period. Therefore, a notice of proposed cost was overtaken by events.
“Notice of the costs was given to the Respondent by the Master of the High Court and further re-issued a second time by UDP to the Respondent. All these steps were upheld by the Court. Surprisingly the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the entire Petition on a trivial point of technicality,” the party said.
“It is even more disappointing that the Supreme Court chose to strike out the petition when striking out was not a remedy provided for by statute. Further, the United Democratic Party had on the 24th of December filed 30 witness statements and over two thousand pages of overwhelming evidence that established beyond any reasonable doubt that:
“The conduct of the election was fraught with corrupt conduct and vote buying; Thousands of voters were added to the voter list after close of registration; Thousands of foreigners obtained voters cards in The Gambia illegally; The conduct of the vote counting was full of irregularities that made the result of the election null and void,” it added.
Meanwhile, it said: “Over the past three weeks the United Democratic Party has carried out diligent investigation and placed evidence before the Supreme Court to demonstrate how the elections were stolen from The Gambian people. While we respect the decision of the Supreme Court as the apex judicial authority, we express our unreserved disappointment that the will of the Gambian people is once again suppressed.”
“We will explore all legal options and ensure that the evidence gathered is presented to The Gambian people. Our legal team has over the past few weeks, worked tirelessly – (burning the midnight oil) to ensure that we prosecute our petition by presenting evidence in its support. The United Democratic Party takes this opportunity to salute these great men and women of the Law for their principled stand that justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of technicalities.
“The UDP therefore wishes to assure all its supporters and every Gambian, including the Respondent, that it has not LOST the Petition. UDP was driven from the seat of judgment by being barred from presenting evidence in support of its case. Despite the striking out of the Petition by the Supreme Court, the leadership of UDP calls on all its members to continue to be law abiding while pursuing their legitimate constitutional rights of recruiting more people into the membership of the party,” the statement concluded.