Libreville — With 91.8% of the vote, Gabon's new Constitution was approved in the referendum held on November 16. The turnout was 53.54%, below initial estimates (71%). "This is an important step towards the return to constitutional order after the coup in 2023," commented the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
At the end of August last year, the military seized power in a bloodless coup, overthrowing the government of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had succeeded his father in power since 1967 (see Fides, 30/8/2023).
Interim President Brice Oligui Nguema had promised that the military would return power to the civilian population after a transitional period. The approval of the new Constitution is an important step in this process of returning to democracy, which will lead to the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for August 2025. General Oligui makes no secret of his intention to run for the office of Head of State in these elections. For this reason, the constitutional referendum was important to ensure the fairness of the electoral process under the military regime. Last year's coup took place following disputed elections on August 26, which favored then-President Ali Bongo Ondimba (see Fides, 28/8/2023). About 30 electoral observation missions were deployed for the constitutional referendum, but in some polling stations independent observers were not allowed to observe the counting of the ballots. The ballots were destroyed after the counting of the votes was completed, in accordance with current regulations. The new 173-article constitution provides for a presidential system with a president with extensive powers (without a prime minister) whose term of office is seven years and can be extended for a further term. But it also provides that the provision for two consecutive presidential terms cannot be the subject of a constitutional amendment, in order to avoid the introduction of a presidential regime for life. Nor can the provision allowing marriage only with persons of the opposite sex be the subject of a constitutional amendment.
On the eve of the referendum, the bishops had stated that they left it to the freedom of conscience of the Catholic faithful to vote for or against the new Constitution, but warned them not to be misled by false information circulating on traditional and social media. To this end, Mgr. Jean Patrick Iba-Ba, Archbishop of Libreville, had released a special leaflet.
