Ali Bongo Ondimba has been chosen as the presidential candidate for the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party of his late father, President Omar Bongo.

He will be presented as the party's presidential candidate at its congress in the country's capital, Libreville, on Saturday. Gabon's presidential election is scheduled for late August or early September. At present the defence minister, Ali Bongo could create an upset by winning the election in the first round.

He was born in Brazzaville-Congo on February 9, 1959 and had his secondary education at Collège Sainte-Croix de Neuilly-sur-Seine in France. After obtaining his baccalauréat, he studied for a degree in law.

He entered the corridors of power in the mid-1990s as his father's personal representative and built his connections from that point. In 1989, he was forced to resign as foreign minister, ahead of a revision of the constitution in 1991 that barred anyone under 35 from serving in the cabinet.

He then held other senior non-political positions until 1996, when he lost a parliamentary election against Idriss Ngari, a close associate of his father and an experienced politician who had headed several ministries during the rule of both Bongo and his predecessor, Jean Eyeghe Ndong.

The rivalry between Ali Bongo and Ngari was to continue until 1999, when Ngari was transferred to the transport ministry from the defence ministry. Bongo took the position of defence minister three years later, in 2002.

Bongo's party has called for its supporters to register for the election in large numbers, since voter turnout for the past 15 years has been very poor, owing to accusations that the government has not delivered on its election promises.

Report adapted from the original and translated from French by Michael Tantoh.