Parliamentary elections were held in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

on 6 April 2017. They were first parliamentary elections since the inauguration of

Adama Barrow Adama Barrow ( ff, 𞤀𞥄𞤣𞤢𞤥𞤢 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮, Aadama Baaro, born 15 February 1965) is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and resulted in a landslide victory for the United Democratic Party, which won 31 of the 53 seats.

Electoral system

The 53 members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

were elected from single-member constituencies by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

Conduct

The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU) sent a European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to The Gambia in preparation for the parliamentary election on 13 March, at the invitation of the Independent Electoral Commission. The mission was formally launched on 22 March 2017 and it is led by the Chief Observer, Miroslav Poche, who is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP). Initially, the mission consisted of six international election experts based in Banjul, and 14 long-term observers (LTOs) deployed across The Gambia. Closer to election day, the mission will deploy short-term observers and also a delegation of seven MEPs. In total, the EU EOM will comprise some 50 observers from the EU member states, as well as from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and Switzerland. On 3 April, the EU EOM deployed 14 short-term observers across The Gambia. The African Union (AU) commended the smooth conduct of the election, especially considering the instability suffered by the country in the months before the election, with the difficult transfer of power from Yaya Jameh to

, and various time constraints. The EU in their report noted the calm and peaceful manner that the elections were conducted, and noted their optimism for the future, where there was hope for further improvement.

Jean Lambert Jean Denise Lambert (born Jean Denise Archer; 1 June 1950 in Orsett, Essex) is an English politician, and who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the London Region between 1999 and 2019. Early life and career She attended Palmer ...

, the head of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

delegation said "The Gambia has been through a historical moment with many things changing almost overnight. A few shortcomings have been identified in the election conduct. However, given the circumstances, I would like to express my great respect to the IEC as well as to the Gambian citizens for the peaceful atmosphere of the election day.''"''

Results

References

{{Gambian elections Gambia

Parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Gambia Parliamentary elections in the Gambia Election and referendum articles with incomplete results

Electoral system

Conduct

Results

See also

References