June 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of Gabon has approved August 26 as the date for the next presidential, legislative and local elections, on the recommendation of the Gabonese Election Center (CGE), which will be the first time that the African country has held these three elections of jointly.
The Council of Ministers has indicated in a statement that the decision has been adopted “in application of the provisions of article 74 of Law 7/96 of March 12, 1996”, which stipulates the provisions relating to the calling of elections in Gabon .
“The electoral college has been convened on Saturday, August 26, 2023,” he said, before specifying that the polls will be open between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (local time),” according to a statement published by the Council of Ministers after their last meeting, held late on Monday in the capital, Libreville.
The president of the CGE, Michel Stéphane Bonda, had proposed the date on Sunday, while specifying that the candidacies could be presented until July 11, while the campaign for the presidential and legislative elections would start on July 11 and August 16, respectively.
At the moment, the current Gabonese president, Ali Bongo, has not ruled on whether he will run for re-election, after the health problems he has suffered in recent years, including a stroke in October 2018 that kept him out for months. from public spotlights.
While waiting for Bongo to announce whether he will run for president, the opposition has not reached an agreement on a unity candidate and to date around 15 people have announced they plan to run. Bogno’s party, the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), also has a majority in both houses of Parliament.
The president 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. However, he did not rule on whether a term limit would also be introduced, a request from the opposition, given that currently anyone can run indefinitely.
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”.
