A closed ballot, without international observers or foreign journalists, is to be held in Gabon on Saturday August 26. “It bodes very badly for the credibility of this election, worried a few days earlier Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, vice-president of the National Union, an opposition party. The fact that the journalists do not obtain accreditation and that the requests from the various embassies do not succeed proves that the conditions are not met for a possible alternation. » In power for fourteen years, Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, is seeking a third term as head of this oil state considered among the richest in Africa.
The name of his main opponent was revealed only eight days before the vote. Albert Ondo Ossa, 69, was appointed on Friday August 18 by candidates who joined the Alternance 2023 (A23) platform, created with the aim of bringing together the opposition and avoiding the scattering of votes. The day after his appointment, Albert Ondo Ossa launched his campaign at a run across his country, the size of half of France and populated by around two million inhabitants. “The train of change is on, our numbers will be our strength…I’m not afraid, don’t be afraid”he hammered during his meetings.
The former minister of education and higher education (2006) of Omar Bongo Ondimba, father of the outgoing president, was chosen after tough negotiations, among several opposition leaders such as Alexandre Barro Chambrier (Rassemblement for the homeland and modernity) and Paulette Missambo (National Union). All the candidates of the A23 platform have undertaken to withdraw their candidacy for this one-round ballot, for which they will be thirteen at the start. “Albert Ondo Ossa is not the expected heavyweight, recognizes Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi. He should not be seen as a candidate by default but as that of consensus. This man of principle and values is the one who brings us together the most and divides us the least. »
But a change in the voting system is debated. The opposition criticizes the government for having introduced in July a single ballot for the presidential and legislative elections. In effect, voters who vote in their constituency for a party’s parliamentary candidate will automatically vote for that party’s presidential candidate, and vice versa. Appeals have been filed with the Constitutional Court to denounce the “non-separation of powers”, but they did not succeed. “This modification violates the freedom of choice of voters”deplores François Ndong Obiang, member of the A23 platform, because it “hides a treacherous idea, to make Ali Bongo benefit from the votes of his party’s candidates in the legislative elections”.
5,500 votes ahead in 2016
Albert Ondo Ossa being independent, he does not rely on any recognized political body and the ballot in his name does not mention any legislative candidate. Its voters will therefore not give their vote to any deputy. The opposition candidate assured that he would initiate appeals and would cause the dissolution of the National Assembly if he is elected.
The powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) and its allies now reign almost unchallenged in Parliament. Elected for the first time in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for more than four decades, Ali Bongo Ondimba was narrowly re-elected in 2016 with a relatively low turnout (59%) and after a highly contested ballot against Jean Ping. His result in Haut-Ogooué, rural stronghold of the Téké, the community from which he comes, had in particular given rise to serious doubts: the participation had reached 99.93% and he had won with 95% of the votes.
Ali Bongo Ondimba finally won with 5,500 votes ahead of Jean Ping, behind whom a fringe of the opposition had rallied only two weeks before the vote. The announcement of the results had provoked violence causing at least five deaths according to the government and around thirty according to the opposition. The National Assembly had been set on fire.
With significant financial resources, Ali Bongo Ondimba, victim of a stroke in October 2018 from which he has kept physical consequences, has been campaigning across the country for several weeks. “The record of his second term is a failure, deplores Mays Mouissi, economic analyst and author of a report on the action of the Gabonese government entitled “105 promises, 13 achievements”. The poverty rate and youth unemployment have increased and living conditions have deteriorated significantly. Compared to the last election, voters can blame him for a lot of mistakes this time and the opposition can benefit. But the conditions prevailing before the vote give rise to serious doubts about the transparency of the ballot. »