Gabon

Bongo’s successor to be chosen

Article published on the 2009-08-30 Latest update 2009-08-30 10:35 TU

Two men hold up their electoral cards outside a registration centre in Liberville, 25 August 2009.
(Photo: AFP)

Electors in Gabon head to the polls Sunday in the country’s first presidential election after Omar Bongo’s 41 years in power. 18 official candidates are on the ballot, though Bongo’s son Ali is favoured to win.

Gabon has taken the unusual step of closing its borders for five days around the election, a measure said to guarantee the safety of its people and head off any potential violence after results are announced.

Ali Bongo, 50, was selected by his father’s Parti démocratique gabonais (PDG) party as its candidate, and has benefitted from its on-the-ground organising capacities.

There were 22 candidates running against Bongo, but five announced that they were dropping out of the race on Friday, putting their support behind the former Interior Minister André Mba Obame.

All the candidates, including those who served for years in Bongo’s government have denounced the old way of doing things, decrying the lack of transparency and distribution of the country’s natural wealth. Stopping short of criticizing Bongo himself, they have promised things will change.

Despite the more than 300 international observers sent to Gabon to monitor the elections, many fear vote rigging and other forms of cheating.

The fact that more than 813,000 people are registered to vote has raised some eyebrows even before the polling stations opened, as the country only has a population of 1.3 million, many of whom are under 18.