The Coalition of Progressive Gambians (CoPG) has told the European Union to stop pretending it can observe a credible election in The Gambia while President Adama Barrow pursues a third term in defiance of his own promise and without a new constitution.
In a statement signed by its SG Celestine Kujabi shared with The Standard, CoPG welcomed the EU’s decision to deploy an Election Observation Mission for the 5 December 2026 presidential election, but questioned what the EU wanted to observe and what it intended to legitimise.
“The EU cannot claim to be an advocate of democracy and good governance in Africa, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the most fundamental democratic principle of all — term limit.”
CoPG accused the EU of double standards, saying Brussels has been loud on term limits elsewhere in Africa but has gone quiet on The Gambia.
“In other African countries, the EU has been loud and clear that Presidents must respect term limits. That they must not cling to power or manipulate constitutions to stay in office. Why is The Gambia different? Why, in The Gambia, a small country still cradling a new-found democracy after 22 years of brutal dictatorship, has the EU suddenly gone quiet on term limits?”
The group added: “Is a third term in The Gambia somehow more democratic than a third term elsewhere? Is the Gambian people’s right to democratic rotation less important than others? This selective application of democratic principles is not diplomacy. It is unethical.”
CoPG reminded the EU and Gambians of the history that brought Barrow to power.
“Barrow came to power in 2017 as a transitional president. He promised to serve only three years, deliver a new constitution that would entrench a two-term limit, and then step aside. Gambians believed him and the international community, including the EU, praised him. Where is that new Constitution today? It was killed. It was abandoned. It was betrayed.
“And yet, the EU, which funded governance programmes, which funded the Constitutional Review Commission, which preached rule of law has said almost nothing.”
CoPG said the EU funded the constitution-building process, then watched silently as the draft was discarded so Barrow could seek a third term under the old 1997 Constitution, a constitution written by dictator Yahya Jammeh, for Jammeh, with no term limits.
“That is a betrayal of the Gambian people and a betrayal of the EU’s own stated values.”
The Gambia however has no term limits in its current constitution.
