Gambia: the stakes of the legislative elections

A voting center took place in the middle of a street in Banjul, during the presidential election in The Gambia, December 4, 2021. © RFI / Paulina Zidi

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1 min

Election day in The Gambia, this Saturday, April 9.

Five months after the presidential election and Adama Barrow's victory for a second term, this election will serve as a test for the president and his fledgling party.

Back to the stakes of this vote.

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With our correspondent in Banjul,

Gambians enter the polling booth this morning to elect the 53 deputies who will constitute the new National Assembly.

And the main question is the place that will take the newcomer, the "National People's Party" of President Adama Barrow, within the hemicycle in Banjul. 

This party, created only 2 years ago, presents 40 candidates on the electoral lists.

Against 46 for its main rival, the Unified Democratic Party of Ousainou Darboe. 

During the presidential campaign a few months ago, Adama Barrow's party joined that of his predecessor Yahya Jammeh, the Patriotic Alliance for Reorientation and Construction, in addition to two other parties.

And this alliance, described as "tactical" by observers, should allow the president to finally have a majority in Parliament.  

What perhaps unlock difficult legislative issues such as the revision of the 1997 Constitution and finally confirm the transition and reconciliation undertaken after the departure of Yahya Jammeh in 2017. 

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• Gambia