The People's Progressive Party is a political party in the Gambia. It was the dominant ruling party of the Gambia from 1962 to 1994, during the presidency of party founder Dawda Jawara.
The People's Progressive Party lost power after the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, which saw the beginning of the authoritarian regime of Yahya Jammeh. The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) then became the dominant party of the Gambia. Today, the People's Progressive Party remains active, but lacks the same level of influence it exercised in the late 20th century.
History
The party was founded in 1959 as the Protectorate People's Party (PPP) and was later changed to the People's Progressive Party. The party won the 1962 general election, and in October 1963, upon the attainment of self-government, their leader, Dawda Jawara, became Prime Minister of the Gambia. With the republican referendum in 1970, Jawara became the first President of the Gambia.
In 1981, there was an attempted coup intended to overthrow the then-incumbent PPP government. It was a civilian-led coup attempt with some support from the Gambia Field Force. The death toll is debated, being anywhere from 500 to 1,000 lives lost. The coup was put down by Senegalese intervention and as a result, Senegal and the Gambia formed the Senegambia Confederation. The coup was carried out by military officers in the Gambian National Army (GNA). Then for the 2016 presidential election, PPP joined the Coalition 2016, where Adama Barrow was declared the coalition's candidate and subsequently won.
Ideology
The People's Progressive Party was created by rural populations as a reaction against urban areas exerting control over the political arena post-colonialism.
The People's Progressive Party's website currently states, "The PPP believes that a less pervasive and intrusive government as opposed to the current over-centralized and authoritarian regime is necessary in order to release the creative energies of the Gambian people and to encourage wider social, economic, and political inclusion. Our party intends to reduce the power of government and return to grassroots democracy."
Opposition
During the People's Progressive Party's rule, there were times of growing discontent with the government. Not only did opposition candidates stem from that discontent, but many opposition parties were created to run against the PPP. The main figure that dominated the APRC was Yahya Jammeh, who became president in 1996 and served until the 2016 Gambian presidential election. Under Jammeh and the APRC's rule, there were numerous reports of human rights abuses and suppression of the media.
Following the coup, Jawara was exiled and lived in Senegal and later London. He was later given amnesty but was not given the right to participate in the Gambian political arena.
thumb|[[Omar A. Jallow|Omar Jallow, leader of the PPP from 2001 to 2018.]]
Jawara died on August 27, 2019, at 95 years old.
After Jammeh was not re-elected following the 2016 Gambian presidential election, Jallow was appointed the minister of agriculture as he was in the Jawara administration. In 2020, Njie was appointed as the Gambian High Commissioner to Nigeria. Kebba E. Jallow then became interim leader, and was elected as leader at the party's 2021 national convention.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party candidate
!Votes
!%
!Result
|-
! 1982
| rowspan="3" |Dawda Jawara
| 137,020
| 72.44%
| Elected
|-
! 1987
| 123,385
| 59.18%
| Elected
|-
! 1992
| 117,549
| 58.48%
| Elected
|}
National Assembly elections
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
! Election
! Leader
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Position
! Position
|-
! 1960
| rowspan=8 | Dawda Jawara
| 25,490
| 36.9%
|
| New
| 1st
|
|-
! 1962
| 56,343
| 57.7%
|
| 9
| 1st
|
|-
! 1966
| 81,313
| 65.3%
|
| 6
| 1st
|
|-
! 1972
| 65,388
| 63.0%
|
| 4
| 1st
|
|-
! 1977
| 123,297
| 69.6%
|
| 1
| 1st
|
|-
! 1982
| 102,545
| 61.7%
|
| 2
| 1st
|
|-
! 1987
| 119,248
| 56.4%
|
| 4
| 1st
|
|-
! 1992
| 109,059
| 54.3%
|
| 6
| 1st
|
|-
| colspan="7" |The PPP was banned from 1994 to 2016
|
|-
! 2017
| Omar Jallow
| 9,503
| 2.5%
|
| 2
| 6th
| <br/>
|-
! 2022
| Kebba E. Jallow
| 1,168
| 0.2%
|
| 2
| 10th
|
|}