July 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, announced this Sunday that he will be a candidate for a third presidential term in the elections scheduled for August 26. Bongo has been in power for 14 years.
“Today I officially announce that I am a candidate,” he proclaimed during an event with supporters broadcast live on his Facebook page from the Nkok Special Economic Zone (SEZ), near the capital, Libreville, reports the gabonmediatime portal.
Bongo has been carrying out pre-campaign events for several days on a “republican tour”, so the announcement is not a surprise, especially within his formation, the Gabonese Democratic Party.
“We invite you to present yourself as a candidate, Mr. President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba”, read some of the banners displayed by their supporters in the acts of recent weeks. Now Bongo himself confirms his candidacy and says that he meets the people’s request.
The doubt about his candidacy could come from the health problems he has suffered in recent years, including a stroke in October 2018 that kept him away from public life for months.
On August 26, presidential, legislative and local elections will be held, which will be the first time that the African country has held these three votes together.
Meanwhile, the opposition has failed to reach an agreement on a unity candidate and to date around 15 people have announced they plan to run in the polls.
Bongo announced in February that the mandates of elected officials will be limited to a maximum of five years, within the framework of a dialogue with the opposition ahead of the next elections. Currently, the president’s term is seven years, while that of senators is six years.
Bongo came to power in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 41 years after winning elections that were criticized by the opposition. In 2016 he was re-elected in elections whose results were not recognized by his rival, Jean Ping, who called the Supreme Court’s decision confirming the president’s victory “unfair”.
