On Thursday, the Gabonese National Assembly and Senate met in Congress to revise the country’s constitution, reducing the President of the Republic’s term of office from seven to five years and the election from two to one round. Part of the opposition has criticized the change.
The amendments align all mandates at five years and return all elections to single-round balloting with the most recent Constitutional revisions in 2018, which instituted a two-round voting process.
85 percent of votes in a combined session of the national assembly and senate in the capital Libreville supported the proposal, “far beyond the qualified majority of two-thirds necessary,” according to assembly speaker Faustin Boukoubi.
These changes, particularly the one-round ballot, have been criticized by a segment of the opposition (which is currently very divided) as a means of “facilitating the re-election,” potentially with a relative majority, of the country’s long-serving leader, Ali Bongo Ondimba.
According to Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, a settlement was reached after 10 days of political concertation between the majority and the opposition in February.
Several senior opposition leaders and their parties had snubbed the talks.
After succeeding his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who ruled the oil-rich West African nation for 41 years, in 2009, Bongo, now 64, is widely expected to run for reelection.
In 2016, the president was re-elected by just 5,500 votes over opponent Jean Ping, who claimed the election was rigged.
Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018 and spent months recovering, prompting the opposition to question his fitness to lead the country.
His political party, the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), has strong majorities in both houses of parliament and is pressuring the president to declare his intention to run again.
Elections this year for the office of president, the legislature, and local offices are planned for the end of August, however a date has not yet been set.