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In 1994, the [[Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council]] (AFPRC) [[1994 Gambian coup d'état|deposed the Jawara government]] and banned opposition political activity. Lieutenant [[Yahya Jammeh]], chairman of the AFPRC, became head of state. Jammeh was just 29 years old at the time of the coup. The AFPRC announced a transition plan to return to a democratic civilian government.
The Provisional Independent Electoral Commission (PIEC) was established in December 1995 to conduct national elections and it supervised a referendum on a revised Constitution, the elections for President and the National Assembly by early January 1997.<ref name=Gambia IEC>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://iec.gm/about-iec/history/ |website=Independent Electoral Commission - IEC- The Gambia |access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref> In 1997 the {{Official website|url=https://iec.gm/|name=Independent Electoral Commission - IEC- The Gambia}} was established to replace the PIEC, responsible for the registration of voters and for the conduct of elections and referendums.<ref name=Gambia IEC/>
The IEC organized the next 5-year elections for late 2001 and early 2002, and The Gambia completed a full cycle of [[Gambian presidential election, 2001|presidential]], [[Gambian parliamentary election, 2002|legislative]], and local elections, which foreign observers deemed free, fair, and transparent.<ref name=human>{{cite web |author=U.S. Department of State |title=U.S.D.S. Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2002: Gambia, The |date=31 March 2003 |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3e918c264.html |access-date=26 November 2021 }}</ref> President Yahya Jammeh, who was elected to continue in the position he had assumed during the coup, took the oath of office again on 21 December 2001. Jammeh's [[Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction]] (APRC) maintained its strong majority in the National Assembly, particularly after the main opposition [[United Democratic Party (The Gambia)|United Democratic Party]] (UDP) boycotted the legislative elections.<ref name=background>{{StateDept |section |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5459.htm#politics |title=Background Note: The Gambia }}</ref>
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