The recently concluded American presidential election has continued to produce shockers hitherto unknown in the modern history of a country reputed as a foremost model of democracy in the world.

It was an election that the usually reliable polls and the permutations of most pundits had portrayed the candidate of the left-of-centre Democratic Party and former Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, as the prospective winner. Her opponent, maverick billionaire and candidate of the centre-right Grand Old Party (GOP, better known as the Republican Party) Mr Donald Trump, consistently lagged in most polls due to his belligerent, ultra-nationalist demagoguery.

This had many Americans and observers across the world worried at the prospect of such a figure becoming the leader of the mightiest military power in the world.

However, as the results started tumbling in after the Tuesday, 8th  November 2016 election, Trump coasted to the Presidency via a provisional Electoral Vote of 290 compared to Clinton’s 232. Both candidates needed 270 electoral votes to win. According to the peculiar American electoral system, it no longer mattered that Clinton was leading in the popular vote. Trump also dragged his party across the finish line with total control of the Senate and Congress.

As the stunned world struggled to adjust to the reality of a Donald Trump presidency, a rash of protests erupted in several American cities, notably Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles – mostly the areas where Clinton and the Democrats won, with angry agitators disavowing Trump as their president.

It is alarming to note that a country where citizens have traditionally accepted the outcomes of elections with equanimity is exhibiting traits that are associated with less-fancied democracies. We hope the leaderships of the two major political parties move in quickly to prevent a major interparty-inspired breakdown of law and order, which would bode great dangers not only for Americans but the world at large.

President Barack Obama and the Clintons must move fast to rein in their supporters and fulfill their pledge to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. On the other hand, President-elect, Trump, must be mindful of the sacred trust that his mandate represents and do away with truculent rhetoric. The protests present him with the first acid test of whether, indeed, he is fit to be president; the president of all Americans.

He will have to adjust to the need to forge consensus within his camp, party and with the Democrats, as well as the legislature and other critical stakeholders as he proceeds with some of his controversial policies.