By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The list of elected National Assembly members (NAMs) from the April 6th, 2017 elections is reproduced below. The UDP won 31 out of 53 seats, with APRC, GDC and NRP winning 5 seats each. PDOIS won 4 seats while PPP won 2 seats with one seat (Basse) going to an Independent Candidate (Muhammed Magassey). GMC, GPDP and NCP put up a combined 12 contesting candidates but could not win any seats in the National Assembly.
The UDP’s 31 successful candidates out of 44 means that 70% of their candidates were successful. On the other hand the GDC put up 52 candidates but won only 5 seats meaning that their success rate was less than 10%. GDC’s success rate was only better than the Independent and the three parties that failed to win a seat.
Looking at Constitutional reforms and how the Governing Coalition can progress this agenda, all parties in the Coalition have a total of 42 elected seats. This means that if all Coalition Parties collaborate effectively UDP, NRP, PDOIS and PPP have 79.2% of the 53 elected NAMs, which translates to more than the two-thirds majority needed to pass a Bill. This means that any reforms can be progressed despite opposition from parties outside the Coalition. The President can also nominate an additional five National Assembly members which will only help him win more votes to pass Constitutional amendments tabled by the Coalition.
Out of the 19 female contestants, only three won a seat in Tallinding (Fatoumatta Jawara – UDP), Foni Bondali (Kaddy Camara – APRC) and Banjul South (Fatoumatta Njie – PPP). This means that less than 6% of the elected National Assembly members are women, highlighting the urgent need for gender parity in the House of Representatives. If the President decides to nominate an additional five members in the National Assembly this could be an opportunity to improve the gender and youth representation in the House.
