After the elections, President Yahya Jammeh said that "constituencies that voted the opposition should not expect my government's development projects. I want to teach people that opposition in Africa does not pay." He expressed satisfaction with the results and said that "voters have thrown out the two empty barrels from the National Assembly"; this was believed to be a reference to the defeat of two prominent opposition politicians, Halifa Sallah and Hamat Bah. Salleh blamed the opposition's poor performance on a split in its ranks and said that he intended to retire from politics.[2]
Campaign
A total of 103 candidates were approved by the Independent Electoral Commission. The ruling APRC was the only party to contest all 48 seats,[3] and ran unopposed in five constituencies.[4]