Chamber:
	National Assembly
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	17 January 2002
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all seats in the National Assembly on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	As the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) had announced its decision to boycott the 17 January 2002elections and all other elections, including local government posts, the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party ran unopposed in 33 out of 48 constituencies. In the other 15, it faced the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). The NRP had two members in the outgoing Parliament and the PDOIS one. UDP leader Mr. Ousainou Darboe announced the boycott, calling the polls "seriously flawed". He said the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was allowing Gambians to vote in any area of choice in "an attempt by the IEC to aid the massive transfer of ruling party supporters to what are historically opposition strongholds". The IEC, in a statement, dismissed Darboe's claims as "unfounded and lacking sincerity and goodwill". The vote was marked by a feeble turn-out in most of the country. Officials said the turnout appeared much lower than that for the October 2001 presidential election, which President Yahya Jammeh, who first took power in Gambia in a 1994 coup, had won by a comfortable margin. Local and international observers called the attention of the IEC to what they observed as under-age voting, saying that there had been too frequent cases of voters who were later found to be below 18, the minimum voting age. There were also complaints by the opposition regarding failure to recognise their polling agents. The ruling APRC won a resounding victory in the legislative elections. Official results gave the party 12 out of 15 contested seats. The APRC thus secured 45 elected seats plus the 5 appointed by the President. The opposition PDOIS for the first time secured two seats, while the last seat went to the National Reconciliation Party. On 3 February 2002, the newly elected National Assembly held its first sitting and elected Sheriff Mustapha Dibba as its Speaker.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (17 January 2002): Elections results
Number of registered electors	167 817
Voters	94 621 (56.38 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	35
Valid votes	94 586

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC)	79
People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS)	15
National Reconciliation Party (NRP)	6

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC)	45
People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS)	2
National Reconciliation Party (NRP)	1

Comments:
	The distribution of seats according to political group refers only to the 48 directly elected seats

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	46
Women:	7
Percent of women:	53

Distribution of seats according to profession:
Teachers	13
Business/Trade/Industry	7
Civil servants (incl. former)	6
Social workers	5
Accountants	4
Agriculturists	4
Services	4
Engineers	3
Farmers	2
Development Workers	1
Medical professions	1
Politicians	1
Sociologists	1
Others	1