The Gabonese overwhelmingly validated with 91.8% “yes” the new constitution drafted by the military regime of General Brice Oligui Nguema, presented as a “major turning point” for the country after the fall of the Bongo dynasty.
Crucial issue of this consultation carried by the new strong man of the country, the participation rate rose to 53.54% – well below the first estimates (71%) -, according to provisional data published Sunday by the ministry of the Interior.
A total of 868,115 voters were called on Saturday to cast a green ballot for “yes” or red for “no” during the voting day, presented by the government as a “historic moment”, a little over a year after the putsch which ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family.
Once the final results have been confirmed by the constitutional court, the next step will be the holding of a presidential election, currently scheduled for August 2025, to put a definitive end to the transition.
General Oligui has promised to return power to civilians but he does not hide his presidential ambitions by also promising a “rise towards happiness” for this country which is both rich in oil and heavily in debt. “We are here to build the country and we are going to build this country together,” he declared Friday to applause as he inaugurated a market in Libreville.
Since Friday, the authorities have reinforced the curfew put in place since the putsch, with hours “rearranged from 24 hours to 5 a.m. throughout the period of the electoral process”.
No major incidents were reported during the voting day, according to the authorities and according to the Network of Citizen Observers (ROC), a platform of local associations supported by the United Nations.
– “Transparency” –
The government presented as a “guarantee of transparency” the presence of around thirty international observer missions – excluded during the presidential election of August 2023 which led to the re-election of Ali Bongo then to his dismissal after accusations of electoral fraud and embezzlement of public funds.
Although they were able to follow the progress of the vote, “the observers were not able to witness the counting process in certain offices”, according to the ROC which had deployed 250 people on the ground.
In accordance with the Gabonese electoral code, the ballots were incinerated in each of the polling stations after counting. The report of the results was centralized at the Ministry of the Interior which replaced the electoral bodies dissolved after the coup.
The vote, organized “in a context of transition where aspirations for new governance and structural reforms have crystallized”, was held in a “calm and serene atmosphere” with a “structured and functional organization”, underlined the ROC in a statement released on Sunday.
Dominated by official propaganda, the campaign opened at the beginning of November was marked by lively debates. Opponents of the text denounced a text allowing a “dictatorial” regime tailor-made for the transitional president, his supporters affirming that it was necessary to move forward by voting “yes”.
– “Libération” –
The 173 articles of the new fundamental law, the result of contributions collected in the spring during a national dialogue, establish, among other things, a seven-year mandate renewable only once, with a presidential regime endowed with strong executive power, without Prime Minister and the impossibility of a dynastic transmission of power.
His second article sets in stone the accession to power of the junta led by General Oligui on August 30, 2023, with the establishment of a “liberation celebration”.
Article 170 exempts from prosecution and conviction “those involved in events from August 29, 2023 to the inauguration of the president of the transition”, on September 4.
Several provisions cannot be subject to any future revision. Among them: the limit of two successive presidential mandates, the method of election by direct universal suffrage or even marriage reserved for two individuals of opposite sexes.
New provision, military service becomes compulsory, for girls as for boys.
