The Gambia's first legislative elections since the downfall of Yahya Jammeh are expected to inject democracy into a parliament which under authoritarian rule was derided as a rubberstamp assembly. In The Gambia 's largest city of Serekunda, it seems that almost everbody is on the move and the bustle never stops.

Start the conversation, or Read more at AllAfrica.com. </s> Voters in The Gambia are casting their ballots in the first election since the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh, with multiple parties poised to enter parliament after 22 years of effective one-party rule.

More than 880,000 Gambians are eligible to vote, with the polling stations open until 17:00 GMT on Thursdy.

Dozens queued early in the morning at roadside polling stations to be among the first to cast their ballots.



"Things are equal, that's why you have a lot of participants," Ousman Manneh, 34, an assistant returning officer at a polling station in Bakau, a town not far from The Gambia's capital, Banjul, told the AFP news agency.

The first results are expected during the evening and a full set on Friday morning.

READ MORE: Change is coming fast in The Gambia - and it's intoxicating

There are 53 seats up for grabs in The Gambia's National Assembly, five more than in 2012, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

Five extra places are to be appointed by President Adama Barrow to give a total of 58 seats in the legislative chamber, which was long derided as a rubberstamp for Jammeh's executive orders.

"Never has there been so many people wanting a seat in parliament," Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, reporting from Banjul, said.

"Most are young, first-time independent candidates."

Several opposition parties united to form a coalition in December to oust Jammeh from power and deliver Barrow to victory as the new president.



But internal tensions caused that coalition to break apart, meaning nine parties will run in Thursday's legislative polls including Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) and the strongest traditional opposition force, the United Democratic Party (UDP).

READ MORE: 'It's a great time to be Gambian'

They face a significant threat from the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), a youth-led party which did not join the governing coalition, and whose leader Mama Kandeh came third in the presidential poll.

The African Union, regional ECOWAS bloc and the European Union have all sent observers to monitor voters casting their ballots with The Gambia's unique system, where marbles are dropped into coloured metal barrels representing different candidates.

Barrow, who won December's presidential race, was a former UDP treasurer who resigned to run as the candidate of an unprecedented opposition coalition.

After a drawn-out crisis caused by Jammeh's initial refusal to step down, mediation efforts by west African leaders and the threat of military intervention eventually delivered the country's first ever democratic transition in January.

Barrow's cabinet is made up of the heads of seven different political parties, all of which will field candidates in Thursday's election. </s> DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United Nations secretary-general says a takeover by Gambia’s security forces of the country’s electoral commission offices could compromise “sensitive electoral material” as the president refuses to accept being voted out of power.

The spokesman for the U.N. chief in a statement Wednesday said Tuesday’s blockading of the election offices was an “outrageous act of disrespect” and a sign of defiance as West African leaders visited to urge President Yahya Jammeh to accept his loss.

The U.N. statement calls on security forces to immediately leave the electoral offices. It also calls for a peaceful transfer of power.

West African leaders will meet Saturday about Gambia’s election crisis. Jammeh initially conceded to Adama Barrow, who won the Dec. 1 vote, but later rejected the results. </s> On Thursday, 238 candidates from nine political parties will vie for the 53 parliament seats up for election.

The Gambia will hold its first election on Thursday since the downfall of longtime leader Yahya Jammeh.

Expectations are high that new lawmakers will overhaul the national assembly once derided as a mere rubberstamp by many in the country.

Gambians have long complained that under Jammeh, who ruled for 22 years, laws were often made by executive decree and buttressed by legislation much later on, if at all.

Campaigning ended on Tuesday for the 238 registered candidates representing nine different political parties who are vying for the 53 seats up for election.

READ MORE: The Gambia's missing sons and daughters

Five seats are to be appointed by President Adama Barrow, totalling 58 spots in the small west African nation's parliament.

Kemo Bojang, a first-time voter speaking to Al Jazeera by phone, said there is a lot of excitement surrounding this year's election.

"This is a breakthrough for us, voting for someone who will actually represent us," Bojang, 20, who resides in the western town of Bakau, said.

He added he has witnessed many within his community actively engaged in the political process, something he said many feared to do while Jammeh was in power.

"I've seen people who were not into politics before engaged in political discussion this time around," Bojang said. "Now there is not fear and the feeling that no one can stop you from speaking your mind."

The landscape of Gambian poltics have shifted dramatically since the last legislative elections in 2012, when Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) took 43 seats, with a large number of them uncontested because of an opposition boycott.

Bojang said he believed the number of parties participating "goes to show how democratic this year will be".

Among the parties running this year, the United Democratic Party (UDP) is fielding the most candidates after long being seen as the strongest opposition force in The Gambia.

Alagie Darboe, deputy administrative secretary of the UDP who is standing for a seat in The Gambia's West Coast Region, said the party was aiming to win in 44 constituencies. 

 

 "The support we are getting from the electorate during the campaign is a clear indication that we are going to win," he told AFP news agency.

Barrow, who won December's presidential race, was a former UDP treasurer who resigned to run as the candidate of an unprecedented opposition coalition.

After a drawn-out crisis caused by Jammeh's initial refusal to step down, mediation efforts by west African leaders and the threat of military intervention eventually delivered the country's first ever democratic transition in January.

Barrow's cabinet is made up of the heads of seven different political parties, all of which will field candidates in Thursday's election.

The president had initially said the opposition coalition was a "family" and would run again as a group in the legislative poll, but internal tensions broke apart the agreement.

As a result, parties whose leaders govern together as ministers will be pitted against each other at the ballot box, stoking tensions that some close to the government say could play into the hands of the APRC.

Yankuba Colley, the APRC's campaign chief, said the party knew mistakes were made during the presidential election, but added his candidates were working hard to show it was still a vital force. 

 

 "We are optimistic that we are going to defeat our opponents in the 29 constituencies [where] we fielded candidates," he said.

READ MORE: The Gambia's journalists find new freedom of expression

But Bojang, like many Gambians he said, hope the APRC will fade away.

"The fact they are only running 22 candidates goes to show their popularity and how they won't be successful in this election," Bojang said.

And he hopes that after Thursday's election, the country will again unite as many Gambians did against Jammeh in December.

"I liked to see The Gambia more united than we are at the moment," he said.

"If we're able to continue that unity, I think it will go a long way in keeping our freedom and the democracy." </s> The Supreme Court of The Gambia, the highest court of the land, has been constituted to hear the election petition case filed by Gambia’s dictator Yahya Jammeh, who is contesting the outcome of the December, 1st Presidential election, in which Real Estate Developer Adama Barrow, of the opposition alliance was declared the winner of the elections, the Freedom Newspaper can reveal. Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, a Nigerian national, said the court was constituted in July of this year and it will start sitting in earnest on January, 10th 2017.

Jammeh’s election petition was briefly heard today before the Supreme court. Mr. Jammeh is alleging electoral fraud, voter intimidation among others against the Independent Electoral Commission. He wants the Supreme Court to annul the results of the elections and declare it null and void. He also wants the court to issue an order for fresh elections to be conducted by a competent and independent IEC.

Judges appointed to serve in the Supreme Court are mainly from Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, the Chief Justice said. The Chief Justice is a member of the Supreme Court Bench. He told the court on Wednesday, that the foreign judges are expected to arrive in the country before January 10th, when the court is expected to formally hear Mr. Jammeh’s election petition. </s> Authorities in Gambia must take all appropriate measures to ensure that forthcoming elections – including the period following the results - are held in a climate that is free from violence and which fully respects the right of all people to freely express their views, Amnesty International said today.

"The thousands of Gambians who have taken part in rallies for all candidates over the last two weeks is a remarkable sign of how precious the right to freedom of expression is in a country where it has been so rarely permitted,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

“But it is crucial that these glimmers of freedom do not end after the votes are counted, and this is no time for complacency. Dozens of people remain behind bars in Gambia simply for expressing their opinion, and journalists, human rights defenders and civil society organizations still fear reprisals for speaking out. Gambians are claiming their rights, and whoever is elected must ensure they are respected.”

On Thursday 1 December, 2016, there will be presidential elections in Gambia. Amnesty International’s absolute focus is monitoring and advocating for the protection and promotion of human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly before, during and after the elections.

The organization does not evaluate whether an election is free or fair. However, given the consistent pattern of human rights violations in Gambia, as well as the authorities’ failure to respect the country’s obligations under international and regional human rights treaties to which the government has subscribed, Amnesty International may comment on the human rights context of the elections. </s> Gambians head to the polls on Thursday for the first time since the departure of longtime leader Yahya Jammeh, with multiple parties poised to enter parliament after 22 years of effective one-party rule.

Several opposition parties united to form a coalition in December to oust Jammeh from power and deliver flagbearer Adama Barrow to victory as the new president.

But internal tensions caused that coalition to break apart, meaning nine parties will run in Thursday's legislative polls including Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) and the strongest traditional opposition force, the United Democratic Party (UDP).

They face a significant threat from the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), a youth-led party which did not join the governing coalition, and whose leader Mama Kandeh came third in the presidential poll.

More than 880,000 Gambians are eligible to vote, with the polls open from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.

The first results are expected during the evening and a full set due by late morning on Friday.

There is no formal opinion polling in the tiny west African nation, making it difficult to establish voting intentions, but the scarcity of APRC rallies which once dominated every street during campaigning suggests voters are unlikely to give them the near-total majority of past elections.

There are 53 seats up for grabs in The Gambia's National Assembly, five more than in 2012, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Five extra places are appointed by the president to give a total of 58 seats in the legislative chamber, which was long derided as a rubber stamp for Jammeh's executive orders.

The African Union, regional ECOWAS bloc and the European Union have all sent observers to monitor voters casting their ballots with The Gambia's unique system, where marbles are dropped into coloured metal barrels representing different candidates.

Miroslav Poche, chief EU observer and a Czech MEP, told AFP that the IEC had showed its impartiality under great pressure by standing up to Jammeh when he lost the vote last year and filed legal action against the body.

"The IEC has proved itself during the December 2016 presidential elections," he said, but added that the marble drum system was a "big challenge" for his technical support team.

It is the first time the EU has sent a fully-fledged observer mission to The Gambia, and it has bankrolled the vote at a time when state coffers are almost empty.

West African troops remain on Gambian soil three months after Jammeh's departure, and will stay until Barrow is satisfied security service reforms have removed rogue elements from its ranks.

Experts say that while the result could go feasibly in any direction, the relative novelty of a truly democratic election might distract from the unified front required to carry out the comprehensive overhaul of the state promised by Barrow.

"Given Jammeh's stranglehold over Gambian politics for the past 22 years, the country's opposition parties are inexperienced to the democratic process and relatively weak institutionally," said Joseph Siegle, director of research at the US-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

"Once Jammeh was defeated and departed the country (under pressure from ECOWAS), the competing agendas and political aspirations of the respective political actors in the opposition were bound to emerge," he added. </s> DAKAR, Senegal — Gambia's security forces should immediately vacate the offices of the country's electoral commission, the United States and the U.N. secretary-general said Wednesday, with the U.N. chief warning their presence could compromise "sensitive electoral material" as President Yahya Jammeh refuses to accept being voted out of power.

Tuesday's takeover of the offices, even as several West African leaders were in the tiny country urging Jammeh to respect election results, was an "outrageous act of disrespect of the will of the Gambian people and defiance towards the international community," the spokesman for the U.N. chief said.

The ruling party is now seeking a new election, saying the Dec. 1 vote was not conducted fairly. West African leaders with the economic bloc ECOWAS will meet Saturday in Nigeria to discuss the political crisis as uncertainty deepens in the country of 1.9 million.

Jammeh at first shocked the country by accepting defeat after 22 years in power, even making a concession call broadcast on state television. A week later, he announced he had changed his mind. The turnaround chilled the celebrations in a nation where the government has been accused of widespread rights abuses that have sent thousands of Gambians fleeing toward Europe.

The ruling party on Tuesday brought a petition against the Independent Electoral Commission and Gambia's attorney general, saying the election was not conducted in good faith and should be invalidated. Meanwhile, security forces surrounded the electoral commission offices and refused to let staffers enter.

The U.N. secretary-general called on Gambia's security forces to immediately vacate the electoral offices and to refrain from further acts that would jeopardize a peaceful transfer of power.

The U.S. Embassy in the capital, Banjul, also demanded that security forces withdraw, saying the "unnecessary and unprovoked show of force is seen as a move to subvert the democratic process in the Gambia."

It remains unclear what action will be taken on the petition by Jammeh's party, as there is no sitting Supreme Court to rule on the challenge. The U.S. said it does not believe the petition "will be heard by a credible court dedicated to ensuring the integrity of The Gambia's democratic process."

Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless 1994 military coup, has long been accused by human rights groups of overseeing a government that imprisons, tortures and sometimes kills its opponents. </s> Gambia’s ruling APRC party on Tuesday filed a petition to its supreme court challenging the outcome of the December 1st election which its candidate, incumbent president Yahya Jammeh, narrowly lost, court documents showed.

“The non-compliance mentioned in this petition seriously affected the credibility of the result of the said presidential elections and necessarily render them invalid,” the document said.

Meanwhile, Gambian security forces have blocked access to the electoral commission office as West African leaders try to persuade the country’s president to respect the elections that voted him out of power after 22 years.

The security forces appeared outside the electoral commission office on Tuesday and refused to let staffers enter.

President Yahya Jammeh initially conceded defeat, but last week announced he was rejecting the December 1st vote results.

Liberia president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is heading the meetings with Mr Jammeh.

Other leaders include Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana president John Mahama, who was also just voted from office.

The West African regional bloc has warned that Gambia could be plunged into violence if Mr Jammeh does not respect a peaceful transition.
Elections are held in The Gambia.