Gabon junta promises free elections in August 2025

Author: Editors Desk Source: France 24

November 13, 2023 at 14:45

File photo: Gabon's new strongman General Brice Oligui Nguema salutes as his wife Zita Nyangue Oligui Nguema looks on during the military parade, in Libreville on September 4, 2023. © AFP

Gabon’s military leaders who deposed president Ali Bongo Ondimba in August announced on Monday that elections would be held in August 2025 under a timetable that first foresees national dialogue.

“August 2025: elections and end of the transition,” a regime spokesman said on live state TV, referring to an official but “indicative” transition timeframe, adopted by cabinet but to be submitted to a national conference next year.

The conference, scheduled for April 2024, would be made up of all the country’s “vital actors”.

Ali Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders on August 30, moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election, which both the army and the opposition declared fraudulent.

Gabon’s new prime minister Raymond Ndong Sima has said that a two-year transition before the free elections promised by the country’s new military rulers was a “reasonable objective”.

Ndong Sima was appointed as head of the transitional government by General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the coup d’etat against Ali Bongo Ondimba.

(AFP)