the new Constitution largely approved by referendum

The green ballots largely won over the red ballots. According to provisional data published Sunday, November 17 by the Gabonese Ministry of the Interior, voters validated 91.8% of the new Constitution drafted by the military regime of General Brice Oligui Nguema.

Crucial issue of this referendum carried by the new strong man of the country, the participation rate rose to 53.54% – well below the first estimates (71%).

In total, 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” and a “major turning point” for the country, a little over a year after the putsch which ended fifty-five years of rule by the Bongo family.

Once the final results are confirmed by the Constitutional Court, the next step will be the holding of a presidential election, currently scheduled for August 2025, to end the transition. General Oligui promised to return power to civilians but he does not hide his presidential ambitions by also promising a “rise to bliss” to this country which is both rich in oil and heavily in debt. “We are here to build the country, and we will build this country together”he declared Friday to applause while inaugurating a market in Libreville.

No major incidents reported during the vote

Since Friday, the authorities have reinforced the curfew put in place since the coup d'état of August 30, 2023, with timetables “redeveloped from [minuit] at 5 a.m. throughout the entire period of the electoral process”.

No major incidents were reported during the voting day, according to the authorities and according to the Citizen Observers Network (ROC), a platform of local associations supported by the United Nations.

The government presented it as a “guarantee of transparency” the presence of around thirty international observer missions – sidelined during the August 2023 presidential election, which led to the re-election of Ali Bongo, then his dismissal on accusations of electoral fraud and misappropriation of public funds . If they were able to follow the progress of the vote, “Observers were unable to attend 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 authorities, dissolved after the coup d'état.

The vote, organized “in a context of transition where aspirations for new governance and structural reforms have crystallized”stood in a “calm and serene atmosphere” with a “structured and functional organization”assured the ROC in a statement published on Sunday.

Opponents denounced a text allowing a “dictatorial” regime

Dominated by official propaganda, the campaign, which opened at the beginning of November, was marked by lively debates. Opponents of the project denounced a text allowing a regime « dictatorial » tailor-made for the transitional president, his supporters affirming that it was necessary to move forward by voting yes.

The 173 articles of the new Basic 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 a 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 Festival”. Article 170 exempts from prosecution and conviction “the actors of the events going from August 29, 2023 to the inauguration of the president of the transition”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.