The National Assembly of the Gambia is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

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 ...

. 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 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 ...

, and a further five members appointed by the

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 ...

Composition and electoral system

The National Assembly is

and consists of 58 members who serve a five-year term. 53 members are directly elected while the remaining five are appointed by the

. Members are elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority, or

first-past-the-post 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 ...

system.

History

Legislative representation based on

universal adult suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

in the Gambia began in May 1962, when elections were held for a 32-seat

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. These elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was led by

Dawda Jawara Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994. Jawara was born in Barajally, MacCarthy Island ...

. 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 A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

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 The Gambian People's Party (GPP) was a political party 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, ...

(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 The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) is a political party in The Gambia. Founded by army officers who staged a coup in 1994, it was the dominant ruling party from 1996 until 2016 with president Yahya Jammeh. History ...

(APRC) won 33 out of 45 seats, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won 7, two went to both the

National Reconciliation Party The National Reconciliation Party is a political party in The Gambia. It was founded in 1996, and is led by its founder, Hamat Bah. History The National Reconciliation Party was founded in 1996 by Hamat Bah as part of his intention to run f ...

(NRP) and Independents, with the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) winning the remaining seat. The (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.

Leadership

The current leadership of the National Assembly is as follows: APRC leader

Fabakary Jatta Fabakary Tombong Jatta (born 16 November 1952) 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. Early life and ...

as assembly speaker, Seedy Njieh as deputy speaker, Billay Tunkara as majority leader and UDP leader

Ousainou Darboe Ousainou Darboe (born 8 August 1948) is a Gambian politician and lawyer who serves as the National Assembly Minority Leader since April 2022. He previously served as Vice-President of the Gambia and Minister of Women's Affairs from June 2018 t ...

as minority leader. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker may only be chosen from among the presidential appointees to the National Assembly, not the elected members. Speakers of the National Assembly are considered impartial presiding officers, although they may cast tie-breaking votes.

Notes

: Independents are listed as part of the opposition by default.

References

External links