National Assembly of the Gambia

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The Gambia
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The National Assembly is the legislative branch of government in The Gambia.

1 Composition and electoral system
2 History
3 2002 election
4 Leadership
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Composition and electoral system

The National Assembly is unicameral and consists of 53 members who serve a five-year term. 48 members are directly elected while the remaining five are appointed by the President. Members are elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority, or First-past-the-post system.

[edit] History

Legislative representation based on universal adult suffrage in The Gambia began in May 1962, when elections were held for a 32-seat House of Representatives. These elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was led by Dawda Jawara. After independence in 1965, the PPP continued to dominate the House of Representatives by winning a series of free, democratic elections in 1966, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, and 1992. While opposition parties were continuously present in the House, they were never able to successfully wrest the PPP from power. Jawara's government was overthrown in a 1994 military coup led by Yahya Jammeh. The constitution and all elected institutions, including the House of Representatives, were dissolved. After the coup, political party activities were banned. The ban was lifted in August 1996 following the approval of a new constitution, but three Jawara-era parties - the PPP, Gambian People's Party (GPP), and the National Convention Party (NCP) remained proscribed.

Legislative elections to the renamed National Assembly took place on 2 January 1997. Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won 33 out of 45 seats, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won 7, two went to both the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and Independents, while the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) captured the remaining seat.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) lifted the ban on the PPP, GPP, and NCP in August 2001, five months before the next scheduled legislative election.

[edit] 2002 election

The most recent National Assembly election was held on 17 January 2002. A boycott by the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) resulted in the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) running unopposed in 33 constituencies and winning 45 out of 48 seats. Two seats were won by the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) while the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) took the remaining seat. Voter turnout in the constituencies where elections took place was 56.4%.

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**Summary of the 18 October 2002 **National Assembly of the Gambia** election results**
Parties	%	Seats
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction	.	45
People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism	.	2
National Reconciliation Party	.	1
Appointed members		5
Total		53
Source: African Elections Database. 33 APRC candidates were elected unopposed. The elections were boycotted by the United Democratic Party.