Gabon

Monthly Event Reports GSOD Indices Archive

Gabon exhibits mixed performance across the Global State of Democracy framework (though these scores pre-date a coup d’état that took place in 2023): low-range performance in Representation and mid-range performance in Rights, Rule of Law and Participation. It is among the bottom 25 per cent of performers in the world with regard to multiple factors of Representation and Judicial Independence, Absence of Corruption and Electoral Participation. Gabon is amongst the world’s top 25 per cent of performers with regard to Civic Engagement. Over the last five years, it has experienced notable drops in Civil Liberties and Freedom of Expression. Gabon is classified as an upper-middle income country, with oil contributing 38.5 per cent of its gross domestic product. It also has a 33.4 per cent poverty rate and 22.3 per cent unemployment rate, with youths making up a large share of the unemployed.

The country’s political trajectory had been closely linked to the Bongo family dynasty, which ruled Gabon from 1968 until a coup d’état in 2023. The Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG) had been in power since 1958 (before independence from France in 1960). Leading opposition parties, including Les Democrates, Rassemblement héritage et modernité and Union Nationale have been represented in municipal and national institutions, but the PDG held an absolute majority in both chambers of the legislature until the 2023 coup.

Gabonese politics have been volatile in recent years. Taking advantage of President Bongo’s illness, lower ranking officers staged a coup (that failed) in January 2019. Additionally, Bongo’s incapacity resulted in factional battles between the ruling family and political elites that led to several cabinet shuffles. However, after 2020 Bongo had been able to re-consolidate power and ran for a third term in the 2023 elections (enabled by the removal of constitutional term limits by the National Assembly in 2018). Ahead of the 2023 general election, opposition parties took steps to work together, including presenting a united front in demanding changes to the electoral law. Bongo was initially declared to be the winner of the 2023 election, but within hours he was deposed by a military coup. The junta empowered General Brice Oligui Nguema as the transitional president, quickly replaced the constitution, and promised to hold elections at an unspecified date.

While until the coup Gabon performed relatively well with respect to Civil Society and was a high-range performer in Civic Engagement, state sanctioned repression was regularly carried out against leaders of civil society, opposition parties and trade unions, who are critical of government action. Gabon is an ethnically diverse society, wherein social cohesion largely prevails. However, xenophobia against immigrants from neighbouring countries has been a problem.

Gabon has persistently performed at the mid-range on Gender Equality over the last decades. Several legislative strides aimed at improving women’s rights, by prohibiting discrimination against women in the economy, reducing the risk of violence against women, and expanding women’s marital rights, indicate some signs of progress. Nevertheless, domestic violence, exploitation in the context of poverty, and unequal wages, remain significant barriers to the attainment of gender equality.

Going forward, it will be important to observe the transitional process that promises a return to civilian rule, enabled by free and fair elections. The country’s past struggles with Credible Elections suggest that this is a key area where progress will have to be made. The state is undertaking efforts to diversify economic activity and reduce its reliance on the hydrocarbons, manganese and timber sectors for government revenue. A failure to address popular demands for political change, compounded by lack of progress with respect to addressing palpable corruption, could impact democratic performance in the years ahead.

National conference delivers recommendations on future constitution

On 30 April, a national conference tasked with returning Gabon to constitutional order following the August 2023 coup delivered its recommendations on a new constitution. The Inclusive National Dialogue brought together over 600 participants from the military, civil society, religious organisations and political parties to debate the terms of the constitution. Many of the participants were selected by the transitional authorities. Among the recommendations put forward by the conference were: (1) that all political parties be suspended until the implementation of new rules governing their regulation, (2) that members of the former ruling party be barred from taking part in elections for three years (excluding them from the elections scheduled for August 2025), and (3) that a 12-month extension to the two-year transition promised by the junta be permitted in the event of an unforeseen crisis. The recommendations, which are not binding, are to be translated into a legal text and then submitted to a referendum later this year.

Sources: Voice of America, Jeune Afrique, Dialogue National Inclusif, British Broadcasting Corporation, Reuters

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September 2023

Military junta enacts transitional charter, re-establishing institutions

The junta that deposed Ali Bongo Ondimba in August moved quickly to consolidate power after reopening the national borders in September. General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was sworn in as ‘President of the Transition’ on 4 September. This investiture was enabled by a Transitional Charter that was published the same day. The Transitional Charter claims to supersede all other national laws and gives a great deal of power to the President. However, it also provides for transitional institutions including a National Assembly, a Senate, and a Constitutional Court, re-establishing institutions that had been declared to be dissolved by the coup. The Charter promises free and transparent elections but specifies no timeline for these to take place. Notably, the Transitional Charter forbids many officials in the transitional institutions from running for President in the elections to follow but does not prevent the President of the Transition from standing as a candidate. Also of note in September: former opposition presidential candidate (and former prime minister) Raymond Ndong Sima was appointed Prime Minister in the transitional government on 11 September.

Sources: Le Monde, Jeune Afrique, Radio France Internationale, AfricaNews, British Broadcasting Corporation, Africa Report

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Brice Oligui Nguema Constitution Transitional Process Military Junta

August 2023

President Bongo removed by a military coup immediately after elections

Gabon held elections for the president, members of the national assembly, and municipal councils on 26 August. The election took place without any international observers, and the government instituted both an Internet shutdown and a curfew as the polls closed. The official result was announced by the electoral commission on 30 August, giving President Ali Bongo Ondimba a third term as he was said to have received 64.3 per cent of the vote, well ahead of the leading opposition candidate Albert Ondo Ossa, who received 30.7 per cent. Opposition parties alleged that the official result was fraudulent.

Shortly after the electoral commission’s announcement, factions of the military led by General Brice Oligui Nguema staged a coup d’état and removed President Ali Bongo Ondimba from power. In a televised address, coup leaders announced that the recent election was annulled, and that government institutions had been dissolved, including the legislature and the Constitutional Court. President Bongo was detained for a week after the coup. General Oligui was sworn in as the interim president on 4 September, promising elections but not specifying a timeline for a return to civilian rule. The coup was condemned by the international community, and Gabon was suspended from the African Union.

Sources: Le Point, France24, Radio France Internationale, Reuters (1), British Broadcasting Corporation (1), Le Monde, Reuters (2), The Guardian, British Broadcasting Corporation (2)