National Assembly of the Gambia
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Fabakary Jatta (APRC)
since 17 April 2022
Deputy Speaker
Seedy Njie (NPP)
since 17 April 2022
Majority Leader
Billay Tunkara (NPP)
since 17 April 2022
Minority Leader
Alhagie S Darboe (UDP)
since 17 April 2022
Structure
Seats58
Political groups

Government (29)

  •   NPP (22)
  •   NRP (4)
  •   APRC (3)

Opposition (29)α

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.assembly.gm

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.

Composition and electoral system

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.

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 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]

Leadership

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
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

Notes

^α Independents are listed as part of the opposition by default.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ally of ex-Gambian dictator sworn in as parliament speaker". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Hon Fabakary Jatta & Hon Seedy Njie takeover Leadership of Sixth Legislature". GAINAKO. 2022-04-17. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  3. ↑ Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 242.
  4. ↑ "Ally of ex-Gambian dictator sworn in as parliament speaker". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-18.

13°27′37″N 16°34′53″W / 13.46028°N 16.58139°W / 13.46028; -16.58139

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