About This Publication
The Gambia will hold its next presidential election on 5 December 2026, with National
Assembly elections to follow on 10 April 2027.1 This will be only the third presidential
election since the country's transition from 22 years of authoritarian rule under Yahya
Jammeh, and it comes at a moment of real political uncertainty. Incumbent President Adama
Barrow is seeking a third term, a move that has drawn criticism given his earlier pledge to
serve only one term and to support constitutional reform introducing presidential term limits.
Two attempts to pass a new constitution, in 2020 and again in 2025, have failed to secure the
required support in the National Assembly, leaving the country's 1997 constitution, and its
lack of retroactive term limits, in place heading into the vote.