Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 01 December 2016: Gambia Presidential Election

The opposition candidate Adama Barrow wins the 2016 presidential election, defeating the long-term incumbent Yahya Jammeh. This is the first peaceful and smooth transfer of political power since Gambia achieved independence from Britain in 1965. President Jammeh himself took power in a coup in 1994. Barrow won more than 45.5% of the vote, leading an alliance of seven opposition parties (the largest of its kind since independent). Jammeh took 36.7% of the vote, third-party candidate Mama Kandeh took 17.8%. There is further evidence of democratic success in these elections, with a turnout of around 65% of Gambia registered voters, out of a population of 1.9 million.

Barrow campaigned on a platform of reinvigorating the Gambian economy, and creating the necessary environment to dissuade Gambians from making the perilous migration north to Europe. He has criticised the lack of a two-term limit on the presidency and says he would introduce a three-year transitional government made up from members of the opposition coalition.