Gambians' Vote In Parliamentary Election Is Important For The President

 Gambians will vote in the country's parliamentary election on Saturday, April 9, 2022. The voters will renew the unicameral National Assembly’s 58 seats for a five-year term.

The single-round vote will choose 53 lawmakers. Polling stations will open at 8:00 am and close at 5:00 pm. The Gambia Police Force has reportedly trained over 120 Police officers across the country on election security. 

The election follows the December 2021 presidential elections where incumbent president Adama Barrow won a majority of the votes. After the election result, Barrow will choose five other lawmakers including the parliament’s president.

Earlier, the Gambia Participates deployed 65 Long-term observers for all the 53 constituencies to monitor the nomination and political campaigns ahead of the election. 

Barrow had originally defeated former President Yahya Jammeh in 2016. The country has been undergoing a peaceful political transition since 2016. Barrow ended a 20-year regime marred by state atrocities. Earlier, Barrow had promised to introduce constitutional change by the end of his term, but in 2020, the outgoing parliament rejected a draft constitution limiting the president to two terms.

Earlier, ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) leaders like Nana Akufo-Adda of Ghana and Muhammadu Buhari praised the Gambia for credible elections.

According to The Guardian, the president’s National People’s Party is pushing for a parliamentary majority. The United Democratic Party was an unsuccessful challenger to Barrow in last December’s presidential election. Reportedly, the opposition leaders also accused Barrow of illegally supporting his party’s candidates by using state resources during the national campaign for the election. 

According to the United Nations, The Gambia is among the world’s 20 least developed states. The Gambia is also one of Africa's smallest countries. The Gambia is in western Africa and surrounded by the neighboring country of Senegal. Most of the people live near the coast.