United Democratic Party (The Gambia)

Political party in the Gambia

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United Democratic Party

Abbreviation| UDP
Leader| Ousainou Darboe
Founded| 1996
Ideology| Social liberalism
Constitutionalism
Social democracy
Political position| Centre[1] to centre-left
International affiliation| Socialist International (consultative)
National Assembly|

15 / 58

Website
udp.gm

* Politics of Gambia
* Political parties
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The United Democratic Party (abbr. UDP) is a political party in the Gambia, founded in 1996 by 3 political parties (the then-banned PPP, NCP and GPP) and choose the human rights lawyer, freedom fighter, ANM Ousainou Darboe to be the party leader and Secretary General. As a candidate in the presidential election of 18 October 2001, he came second with 32.6% of the popular vote; he took second place again in the 22 September 2006 presidential election with 26.7% of the vote. The 17 January 2002 parliamentary election was boycotted by the party. In the 25 January 2007 parliamentary election, the party won four out of 48 seats.[2]

After Darboe was jailed in April 2016 for his political activities in opposition to the ruling government of Yahyah Jammeh[3] and his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction party, the previous UDP deputy treasurer Adama Barrow was selected as its leader and candidate for the 2016 presidential election. The UDP then became part of the opposition alliance known as Coalition 2016, a group of seven political parties, and the Coalition endorsed Barrow as its candidate. Barrow officially resigned from the party to allow him to run as a formally independent candidate endorsed by the Coalition. Barrow then won the election in a surprise victory. When Jammeh refused to accept the election result, he was forced from office by a regional military intervention, and when Barrow won the election, Darboe was released from prison.

In the 2021 election, the party once again backed Ousainou Darboe[4] who lost the election and received 27.7% of the vote.[5]

In the 2022 National Assembly election, the party won 15 of the 53 available seats. [6]

## Electoral history

[edit]

### Presidential elections

[edit]

Election  | Party candidate  | Votes | % | Result

|
|
|
|

1996 | Ousainou Darboe | 141,387  | 35.84%  | Lost N
2001 | 149,448  | 32.59%  | Lost N
2006 | 104,808  | 26.69%  | Lost N
2011 | 114,177  | 17.36%  | Lost N
2016[a] | Adama Barrow | 227,708  | 43.29%  | Won Y
2021 | Ousainou Darboe | 238,253  | 27.72%  | Lost N

1. ^ Supported Adama Barrow as independent candidate for Coalition 2016.

### National Assembly elections

[edit]

Election  | Leader  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | Position | Government

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1997 | Ousainou Darboe | 104,568  | 33.97%  |

7 / 45

|  7  |  2nd  | Opposition
2002 | Election boycotted |

0 / 49

|  7  |  | Extra-parliamentary
2007 | 57,545  | 21.84%  |

4 / 49

|  4  |  2nd  | Opposition
2012 | Election boycotted |

0 / 48

|  4  |  | Extra-parliamentary
2017 | Adama Barrow | 142,146  | 37.47  |

31 / 53

|  31  |  1st  | Coalition
(UDP-NRP-PPP)
2022 | Ousainou Darboe | 138,176  | 28.04  |

15 / 53

|  16  |  2nd  | Opposition

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Derbyshire, J. Denis; Derbyshire, Ian (2016). Encyclopedia of World Political Systems. Routledge. p. 112\. ISBN 9781317471561.
2. ^ Elections in the Gambia, African Elections Database.
3. ^ "Gambia opposition leader jailed". BBC News. 21 July 2016.
4. ^ "Election FAQs: The Gambia" (PDF). ifes.org. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
5. ^ "Barrow re-elected The Gambia's president, opposition cries foul". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
6. ^ "IEC announces final Legislative Election results - The Point". thepoint.gm. Retrieved 14 April 2022.

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Political parties in the Gambia

National Assembly|

* National People's Party (18)
* United Democratic Party (15)
* National Reconciliation Party (4)
* People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (2)
* Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (2)

Other parties|

* Gambia Democratic Congress
* Gambia Moral Congress
* Gambia Party for Democracy and Progress
* National Convention Party
* People's Progressive Party

| Political alliances|

* Coalition 2016
* National Alliance for Democracy and Development

|

Defunct parties|

* Democratic Congress Alliance
* Democratic Party
* Gambia National Party
* Gambia Socialist Revolutionary Party
* Gambian People's Party
* Muslim Congress Party
* National Democratic Action Movement
* United Party

* Portal:Politics
* List of political parties
* Politics of the Gambia

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