Gabon
Gabon’s level of performance across the Global State of Democracy framework is mixed, with 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 countries in the world with regard to most factors of Representation, as well as Judicial Independence, Absence of Corruption and Electoral Participation. Due to a coup d’etat in August 2023, Gabon’s scores in most factors of Representation experienced significant declines. Freedom of Expression has also declined compared to five years ago. Gabon is classified as an upper-middle income country, with oil contributing 51 per cent of its gross domestic product. Despite its natural resource wealth, 33.4 per cent of the population lives in poverty and 28.8 per cent are unemployed.
Present-day Gabon has been inhabited for millennia, but was not established as a unified political unit until France began to colonize the area in the 19th century. The country gained independence from colonial power France in 1960 and from 1968 until a coup d’état in 2023, it was ruled by the Bongo family dynasty through the Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG). The PDG was the sole legal party in Gabon between 1968 and 1990, at which point a multi-party system was formally established. Leading opposition parties, including Les Democrates, Rassemblement héritage et modernité and Union Nationale have been represented in municipal and national institutions, but the PDG maintained an almost hegemonic status and a majority in both chambers of the legislature until the 2023 coup. The pre-coup regime was characterised by large scale corruption, through which the Bongo family accumulated extraordinary wealth while condemning many Gabonese to poverty.
Gabonese politics had become more volatile during a long period of illness for former President Ali Bongo, evidenced in factional battles that led to cabinet shuffles and most obviously in an attempted coup d’etat in January 2019. However, Bongo was able to re-consolidate power after 2020 and ran for a third term in the 2023 election (enabled by the removal of constitutional term limits in 2018). Ahead of the 2023 general election, opposition parties took steps to work together, presenting a united front demanding changes to the electoral law. Bongo was initially declared to have won the 2023 election, but within hours of the declaration he was deposed by a military coup. The junta empowered General Brice Oligui Nguema as the transitional president, and quickly replaced the constitution with a transitional charter that promises a new constitution and free elections at an unspecified date.
Gabon is an ethnically diverse society in which social cohesion largely prevails. However, xenophobia against immigrants from neighbouring countries has been a problem. Gabon has persistently performed at a mid-range level in Gender Equality. Laws 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.
Looking forward, it will be important to observe Gabon’s transitional process, including a national dialogue and elections that are expected to be held in August 2025. In particular, Free Political Parties and Credible Elections should be monitored, following recommendations from the national dialogue. The recommendations included the suspension of all political parties pending new regulations, a three-year ban on members of the PDG participating in elections and a 12-month extension of the democratic transition in the event of an unforeseen crisis.
(Last updated September 2024)
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
November 2024
Gabon approves new constitution in referendum
Gabon passed a key milestone in its democratic transition on 16 November as voters approved a new constitution in a referendum, over a year after a coup d'état ended the 55-year rule of the Bongo family. According to the Constitutional Court, which validated the result on 29 November, the constitution was approved by 91.6 per cent of voters, with a turnout of 54.2 per cent. Among other changes, the new constitution abolishes the role of prime minister, prohibits dynastic succession and introduces a seven-year presidential term that may only be renewed once. The latter is one of several unamendable ‘eternity’ clauses. Such clauses also include an amnesty granted to those who took part in the 2023 coup and the definition of marriage, which is restricted to two people of the opposite sex. The constitution does not prevent Gabon’s military leader, Brice Oligui Nguema, from contesting the presidential election that is due to take place in August 2025.
Sources: Gabon Constitution, Voice of America, Jeune Afrique, The Conversation
April 2024
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.
Update: In a referendum held on 16 November 2024, voters approved a new constitution that omitted the three conference recommendations referenced above.
Sources: Voice of America, Jeune Afrique, Dialogue National Inclusif, British Broadcasting Corporation, Reuters, Gabon Constitution
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
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)
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