National Assembly of the Gambia | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Deputy Speaker | Seedy Njie(NPP) since 17 April 2022 |
Majority Leader | Billay Tunkara(NPP) since 17 April 2022 |
Minority Leader | |
Structure | |
Seats | 58 |
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Political groups | Government (29) Opposition (29) α
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Elections | |
First-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies plus 5 members appointed by the President | |
Last election | 9 April 2022 |
Next election | 2027 |
Meeting place | |
Parliament Buildings, Banjul | |
Website | |
www |
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The National Assembly of the Gambia is the unicameral legislature of the Gambia. The authorisation for the National Assembly lies in Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Gambia. It is composed of 53 members directly elected through first past the post, and a further five members appointed by the President.
The National Assembly is unicameral and consists of 58 members who serve a five-year term. 53 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.
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 power from the PPP. Jawara's government was overthrown in a July 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, with the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) winning the remaining seat.
The Independent Electoral Commission (Gambia) (IEC) lifted the ban on the PPP, GPP, and NCP in August 2001, five months before the next scheduled legislative election.
On April 7, 2017, the IEC announced that UDP had won a majority of 31 seats out of 53 available during the 2017 legislative elections.
On 17 April 2022, the sixth legislature was sworn in after the 2022 elections, NPP's electoral alliance with the APRC and with NRP gave the pro-government bloc a majority, with 29 seats. [1]
The current leadership of the National Assembly is as follows: APRC leader Fabakary Jatta as assembly speaker, Seedy Njieh as deputy speaker, Billay Tunkara as majority leader and UDP leader Ousainou Darboe as minority leader. [2] The Speaker and Deputy Speaker may only be chosen from among the presidential appointees to the National Assembly, not the elected members. [3] Speakers of the National Assembly are considered impartial presiding officers, although they may cast tie-breaking votes. [4]
Role | Term of Office | Party |
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Speaker of the National Assembly | ||
Mustapha B. Wadda | 1997–2002 | APRC |
Sheriff Mustapha Dibba | 2002–2006 | NCP |
Belinda Bidwell | 2006–2007 | Independent |
Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay | 2007–2010 | APRC |
Abdoulie Bojang | 2010–2017 | APRC |
Mariam Jack-Denton | 2017–2022 | UDP |
Fabakary Jatta | 2022-present | APRC |
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly | ||
Cecilia Cole | 1997–2000 | APRC |
Belinda Bidwell | 2002–2006 | Independent |
George Aziz | 2006–2007 | APRC |
Abdoulie Bojang | 2007–2010 | APRC |
Fatou Mbye | 2010–2017 | APRC |
Momodou L. K. Sanneh | 2017–2022 | UDP |
Seedy Njieh | 2022-present | NPP |
Majority Leader | ||
Tamsir Jallow | 1997–2002 | APRC |
Baba Jobe | 2002–2003 | APRC |
Churchill Baldeh | 2003–2007 | APRC |
Fabakary Jatta | 2007–2017 | APRC |
Kebba K. Barrow | 2017–2022 | UDP |
Billay Tunkara | 2022-present | NPP |
Minority Leader | ||
Kemesseng Jammeh | 1997–2002 | UDP |
Halifa Sallah | 2002–2007 | PDOIS |
Momodou L. K. Sanneh | 2007–2012 | UDP |
Samba Jallow | 2012–2022 | NRP |
Alhagie S Darboe | 2022-present | UDP |
Politics of The Gambia takes place within the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of The Gambia is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliaments.
The United Democratic Party is a political party in the Gambia, founded in 1996 by 3 political parties and choose the human rights lawyer, freedom fighter, ANM Ousainou Darboe to be the party leader and Secretary General. As a candidate in the presidential election of 18 October 2001, he came second with 32.6% of the popular vote; he took second place again in the 22 September 2006 presidential election with 26.7% of the vote. The 17 January 2002 parliamentary election was boycotted by the party. In the 25 January 2007 parliamentary election, the party won four out of 48 seats.
The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) is a political party in The Gambia. Founded by army officers who staged 1994 coup, it was the ruling party from 1996 to 2016 under President Yahya Jammeh.
The People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) is a socialist political party in the Gambia. Since 2005, it has been part of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD). It was part of Coalition 2016 in the 2016 presidential election, whose candidate, Adama Barrow, defeated long-time incumbent Yahya Jammeh. The PDOIS also publishes a party newspaper, Foroyaa, which was noted for its opposition to the Jammeh regime.
The People's Progressive Party is a political party in the Gambia. It was the dominant ruling party of the House of Representatives and the presidency from 1962 to 1994. The president throughout this time period was Dawda Jawara. The People's Progressive Party lost power after the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, a military coup led by young, junior military officers. The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) then became the dominant party of the Gambia. The People's Progressive Party remains active, but lacking the same level of support it garnered in the 20th century.
Sheriff Mustapha Dibba was a veteran Gambian politician who was the 1st Vice-President of the Gambia (1970–1972) and also served as the country's National Assembly speaker from 2002 to 2006. He was also leader of the National Convention Party (NCP).
Halifa Sallah is a retired Gambian politician and former National Assembly member for Serrekunda Constituency. He currently serves as the secretary-general of the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). He served as a spokesman and advisor to President Adama Barrow from during the 2016 presidential election campaign until March 2017.
Ousainou Darboe is a Gambian politician and leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP). He previously served as Vice-President of the Gambia and Minister of Women's Affairs from June 2018 to March 2019, under President Adama Barrow. He also served as President Barrow's Minister of Foreign Affairs from February 2017 to June 2018.
The National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) is a three-party coalition (previously five parties) of Gambian opposition political parties.
Hamat Ngai Kumba Bah is a Gambian politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and Culture in President Adama Barrow's cabinet. He is also the leader of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and has been a presidential candidate in 1996, 2001 and 2011. He was the National Assembly Member for Upper Saloum from 1997 to 2005.
Fabakary Tombong Jatta is a Gambian politician who has served as Speaker of the National Assembly since 2022 and the leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) since 2017.
Ousman Rambo Jatta, known as Rambo, is a Gambian politician. He is currently a councillor in Old Bakau and deputy leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
Parliamentary elections were held in the Gambia on 29 March 2012. The ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won 43 of the 48 elected seats.
Presidential elections were held in The Gambia on 1 December 2016. In a surprise result, opposition candidate Adama Barrow defeated long-term incumbent Yahya Jammeh. The election marked the first change of presidency in The Gambia since a military coup in 1994, and the first transfer of power by popular election since independence from the United Kingdom in 1965.
Gambia Coalition 2016 was the governing coalition of The Gambia in the late 2010s, consisting of seven Gambian political parties, civil society groups and one independent candidate created to field and support a unity ticket for the opposition in the 2016 presidential election. The coalition selected real estate developer and deputy treasurer of the United Democratic Party (UDP) Adama Barrow as their candidate. Barrow officially left the UDP to allow him to run as an independent candidate, although his candidacy continued to be supported by the UDP through its membership in the coalition.
Samba Jallow is a Gambian politician who has served in the National Assembly representing Niamina Dankunku since 2012. A member of the National Reconciliation Party, Jallow also served as Minority Leader in the National Assembly from 2012 to 2022.
Momodou Lamin K. Sanneh is a Gambian politician who served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and served as the National Assembly Member (NAM) for Kiang West from 2007 to 2012, as well as the National Assembly Minority Leader in the same time period.
Modou Bamba Gaye is a Gambian politician who was the National Assembly Member for Lower Saloum, representing the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), from a 2015 by-election to the 2017 parliamentary election.
Mariam Jack-Denton, also known as Ajaratou Mariam Denton, is a Gambian lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gambia from April 2017 to April 2022.
Parliamentary elections were held in The Gambia on 9 April 2022 to elect members of the 58-seat National Assembly.