By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The first part of the 2023 Local Government Elections was concluded on Saturday 15th April 2023 where some 120 Councillors were elected across Eight Administrative Regions. This article compares the 2018 local government elections results with the latest results to assess the parties that have gained and lost grounds ahead of the Mayoral and Chairperson Elections set for 20th May 2023. Many have indicated that the recent Councillors’ elections are an indication of voters’ preference for the Mayoral and Chairperson Elections.
Biggest Winners
Looking at the table above which uses data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) published in 2018 and 2023, President Adama Barrow’s newly established National People’s Party (NPP) and Independent Councillors were the only ones who increased their number of Councillors in Local Government.
From having zero Councillors in 2018 when the President was still with the United Democratic Party (UDP), to claim 44% of all Councillor positions makes the NPP the only Party that has increased its number of Councillors from the previous Local Government Elections.
One indication that Gambian voters are losing trust in Partisan Politics is the rise of Independent Candidates winning Council Positions. In the 2022 National Assembly Elections the number of Independent Parliamentarians increased from one in 2017 to 12 in 2022. This trend is replicated in the recently concluded Councillors Elections where five more Independent Candidates have won Councillor Positions increasing the number of Independent Councillors from three in 2018 to eight in 2023.
Biggest Losers
Every other party has lost Councillor seats with the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) losing the most seats (20) followed by the UDP who lost 18 seats from the 2018 Councillor Elections. The third Party which lost a significant number of Councillor positions is the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) which lost 11 Council seats. However, there is a No to Alliance Movement which defected from the APRC and has won seats in the Councillor Elections.
The People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) lost six seats leaving them with only one seat in 2023 after winning seven in 2018. The National Reconciliation Party (NRP), the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) all lost one seat each in the 2023 Elections leaving both parties without any Council Positions after the 2023 Councillor Elections. However, NRP has still maintained four seats after winning five Councillor positions in 2018.
The NPP Coalition means that President Adama Barrow has more than his 53 Councillors elected under the NPP ticket. As long as the Coalition continues to survive, the NPP Coalition includes APRC and NRP who brought an additional Nine Council Positions to the Coalition. This means that the President has a total of 62 Councillors to call on which is identical to the number of Councillors that the UDP won in 2018.
Voter Turn-Out and Gender
Turning our attention to voter turnout statistics shows that this year’s Councillor Elections featured an improved voter turnout from 34.1% in 2018 to 41.1% in 2023. This is still considered low in comparison to the 2021 Presidential Elections (89%) and the 2022 National Assembly Elections which were over 10% higher than the 2023 Councillors Elections.
With regards to gender, it can be seen that only 17 women have won a Councillor Seat in the 2023 Elections meaning that 14.2% of Councillors are women compared to 85.8% of male Councillors. This demonstrates the low level of female participation in Gambian Politics with Gender Advocates campaigning for a minimum 30% women quota in all elections.
