Gambian parliamentary election, 1997

Parliamentary elections were held in the Gambia on 2 January 1997 three months after presidential elections. The first since Yahya Jammeh's 1994 coup, they were also the first parliamentary elections to be held under the new constitution. However, Decree 89 meant that pre-1994 parties (such as the former ruling People's Progressive Party) were still banned.^[1]

The elections were originally scheduled for 11 December 1996, but following an attack on military barracks at Farafenni at the start of November, they were postponed, and all political rallies were banned.^[2]

Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction won a convincing majority, claiming 33 of the 45 elected seats; enough to change the constitution.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction	160,470	52.13%	33
United Democratic Party	104,568	33.97%	7
People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism	24,272	7.88%	1
National Reconciliation Party	6,639	2.16%	2
Independents	11,907	3.86%	2
Presidential appointees	-	-	4
Total (turnout 73.2%)	307,856	100%	49
Source: African Elections database

References

1. Gambia lifts ban on political parties BBC News, 23 July 2001
2. Gambia, The Britannica