The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. Founded by army officers who staged a coup in 1994, it was the dominant ruling party from 1996 until 2016 with president

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

History

It was formed in 1996 to support army leader Yahya Jammeh's campaign for the 1996 elections. It generally garners high support among voters from Jammeh's Jola ethnic group. Most appointed APRC government officials were from this group as well. Jammeh won the 2001 presidential elections with 52.8% of the popular vote. In

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 ...

elections in 2002, the party won 45 of 48 seats, 33 of them unopposed. The elections were boycotted by the oppositional United Democratic Party. APRC candidate and incumbent Yahya Jammeh won a third five-year term in

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

held on 22 September 2006, receiving 67.3% of the vote. The APRC won 42 of 48 seats in the 25 January 2007 National Assembly election and 43 of 48 seats in the 29 March 2012 National Assembly election. In the 2016 presidential elections, for the first time since officially taking power in the 1996 presidential elections, APRC incumbent Jammeh lost the presidency to coalition challenger

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 ...

, garnering only 39.6% of the vote to Barrow's 43.3%. In the 2017 parliamentary elections, the APRC lost much of its support, while its long-time rival United Democratic Party gained a landslide victory. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the APRC did not run their own candidate but instead formed an alliance with Barrow, their former opponent. Jammeh disavowed the alliance and endorsed

Mama Kandeh Mama Kandeh (born 12 July 1965) is a member of the Pan-African Parliament from the Gambia. He is the founding leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) political party, which he formed in the summer of 2016. He ran as a candidate in the Gam ...

of the Gambia Democratic Congress instead, forcing a split in the party.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

Political parties established in 1996 Political parties in the Gambia *Main {{Gambia-party-stub