Parliamentary elections in Gambia 2012

The parliamentary elections in Gambia 2012 took place on March 29, 2012 in the West African state of Gambia . 48 of the 53 seats in the Gambian National Assembly were to be determined and the remaining five seats to be filled by appointment by the country's President , Yahya Jammeh . Due to the boycott of the elections by the main opposition parties, actual votes only took place in less than half of the constituencies. The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction , the party of the President, won more than 50 percent of the vote in these elections, which the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) described as “neither free, fair nor transparent” and 43 of the 48 seats in parliament.

The main opposition parties boycott the election

With one exception, the country's main opposition parties, the United Democratic Party (UDP), People's Progressive Party , People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism , National Democratic Action Movement , Gambia Moral Congress , Gambia Party for Democracy and Progress , National Convention Party and boycotted the National Alliance for Democracy and Development held the elections after the electoral commission refused to postpone the election date. The opposition parties denounced a complete mixing of the interests of the ruling APRC party and the interests of the state in Gambia. Of the three opposition parties that took part in the parliamentary elections in Gambia in 2007 , only the National Reconciliation Party took part in 2012 , although it was unable to win a seat in the 2007 elections with five percent of the votes.

As a result, the elections only took place in 23 constituencies, since the candidate of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction had no opposing candidates in the remaining 25 constituencies and they thus took their seats without being elected.

procedure

Due to the high illiteracy rate in The Gambia, voters cast their votes by throwing glass marbles into drums, each representing a specific party. A bell when the marble fell ensured that nobody could throw in double marbles.

International observers

The African Union , the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation sent international election observers to Gambia. The West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) refused to upgrade the elections by sending observers because opposition and voters were intimidated by repression and threats and it was expected that the elections would be "neither free, fair, nor transparent". ECOWAS also criticized the AU for sending observers.

Results

Distribution of seats
5 43 1 4th 5 43 1 4th A total of 53 seats Otherwise: 5 APRC : 43 NRP : 1 Independent: 4 With "else." mean the seats that have been appointed by the President.

Parties	be right	%	Seats	+/-
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC)	80 289	51.82	43	+1
National Reconciliation Party (NRP)	14 606	9.43	1	± 0
Independent	60 055	38.76	4th	+3
invalid / empty	0	-	-	-
total	154,950	100	48	0
Eligible voters / turnout	796.929	38.71	-	-
Source: Results For the March 29th 2012 National Assembly Elections \| Independent Electoral Commission The Gambia. In: iec.gm. September 11, 2014, archived from the original on September 11, 2014 ; accessed on March 21, 2017 . , IFES