Presidential elections were held in

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

on 24 November 2011. Incumbent President

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 19 ...

, in office since seizing power in a 1994 coup, faced

Ousainou Darboe Ousainou Darboe (born 8 August 1948) is a Gambian politician and lawyer who serves as the National Assembly Minority Leader since April 2022. He previously served as Vice-President of the Gambia and Minister of Women's Affairs from June 2018 t ...

of the United Democratic Party and

Hamat Bah Hamat Ngai Kumba Bah is a Gambian politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and Culture in President Adama Barrow's cabinet. He is also the leader of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and has been a presidential candidate in 1996, ...

of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development. The elections were won by Jammeh, who received 72% of the vote on an 83% turnout.

Electoral system

Voting took place using marbles dropped into coloured containers each containing a gong.

Conduct

The elections were monitored by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

who praised the process,

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. The

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) did not send any monitors because of "an unacceptable level of control of the electronic media by the party in power... and an opposition and electorate cowed by repression and intimidation". Before the elections Jammeh had claimed "I will never compromise peace and stability at the altar of so-called democracy", that "there is no way I can lose unless you tell me that all Gambian people are mad" and in response to press criticism said "The journalists are less than 1% of the population and if anybody expects me to allow less than 1% of the population to destroy 99% of the population, you are in the wrong place." On the election day Bah claimed that he had not heard of any intimidation of his supporters although Darboe claimed the vote was fraudulent, rejected the result and complained of intimidation from the presence of military vehicles on the streets. The

Independent Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

also said there was no intimidation and that "it is impossible to rig elections in Gambia". There was also criticism of the election organisation as many voters went to the wrong polling station.

Results

References

Presidential elections in the Gambia

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

November 2011 events in Africa {{Gambia-stub