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.
Elections are held in The Gambia.