The Gambia’s electoral commission on Thursday announced five official candidates for December presidential election, including incumbent Adama Barrow who is running for a third term despite initial promises not to do so.

The tiny west African country heads to the polls on December 5, with two weeks of campaigning set to start next Monday.

Beyond Barrow, the list includes the country’s main opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and the popular youth candidate Talib Ahmed Bensouda, who until last week was mayor of a major Banjul suburb.

The government late last month accused Bensouda of financial impropriety, creating speculation he would be disqualified and mass protests would ensue.

Thursday’s announcement, which formalises the nomination process, comes after the country’s Independent Electoral Commission received 18 presidential nomination requests.

Over the course of 1.5 weeks, it met with each candidate to receive his or her paperwork.

It was not immediately clear if more candidates are still to be named.

Leading the list is President Barrow, who heads the National People’s Party (NPP) and is running for a third term.

Running beyond two terms is allowed under the tiny west African country’s 1997 constitution but many initially believed he would not do so.

After Barrow was elected in 2016, it was widely thought The Gambia would finally get a new constitution with presidential term limits.

However since then lawmakers have twice rejected draft constitutions that would have implemented such limits.

Barrow rose to power in 2016 beating longtime Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh in a surprise upset.

His election ended 22 years of rule by a regime accused of carrying out torture, using death squads and many other abuses.

Jammeh has been in exile in Equatorial Guinea since 2017, but he still has many supporters in his home country and often weighs in on its politics.