Gabon will hold its first presidential election since the 2023 military coup

DAKAR, Senegal — The oil-rich central African nation of Gabon on Saturday will hold its first presidential election since a 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty which lasted over 50 years.

The interim president, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, led the coup that toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who many Gabonese accused of irresponsible governance.

Bongo was placed in house arrest after the coup but freed a week later due to health concerns. His wife and son were detained and charged with corruption and embezzlement of public funds. Bongo himself was not charged.

Following the coup, soldiers proclaimed Oligui Nguema, the Republican Guard chief and a cousin of Bongo, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country. He promised to ''return power to civilians'' through ''credible elections.''

In March, Oligui Nguema announced he would run in the presidential election. Seven others are running. Election observers from the African Union and European Union will be present on election day, Gabon's foreign ministry has said.

Gabon's parliament in January adopted a new electoral code. The legislation was contentious. It allows military personnel to be candidates in all elections, which hadn't been possible in the past. It also paved the way for Oligui Nguema to run.

Gabon's new constitution, adopted in a referendum in November, sets the presidential term at seven years, renewable once.

Oligui Nguema's main challenger is Bongo's former prime minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. He has promised to reorganize public finances, create jobs for young people and ''end the umbilical cord'' with former colonial ruler France.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bilie-By-Nze asserted that the upcoming election is not fair or transparent.

''Everything has been done to lock down the vote,'' he said. ''The ministry of the interior and the various electoral commissions are run by people close to the putschist candidate. The ruling candidate also benefits from all the resources of the state for his campaign, while his opponents received no public funding.''

Bilie-By-Nze pledged ''a break with the old system and a new independence. Political, diplomatic and economic independence.''

The government denied the allegations.

''Today, the country is returning to normal. In every country in the world, it is the ministry of the interior that organizes elections,'' Laurence Ndong, the spokeswoman for Oligui Nguema, told the AP, and asserted: ''For the first time, Gabon will have a free and transparent election.''

She added that under the new electoral code, all candidates had the right to ask for reimbursement of their campaign costs up to a certain amount, and ''depending on the election result, they are reimbursed or not.''

While France and its military forces have been pushed out of several African nations in recent years, Gabon has not signaled any change in having a French military presence. Approximately 350 French troops are in the country.

''No subject is off limits,'' Bilie-By-Nze told the AP. ''France is an important partner for Gabon, but we must reexamine certain aspects of our cooperation to rebalance them responsibly.''

Oligui Nguema is expected to win Saturday's election, political analysts say.

''While Nguema is associated with the fall of the Bongo dynasty, Bilie-By-Nze is seen as having in the past contributed to maintaining in place a regime that was visibly despised by almost the entire population,'' said Serge Loungou, a senior lecturer of political geography at Omar Bongo University.

Bongo served two terms after taking power in 2009 following the death of his father, who ruled for 41 years. There was widespread discontent with the family's reign. A small political elite lived in oil-funded luxury while much of the population struggled. More than a third of the population lived under the poverty line in 2022, according the the World Bank.

The central African country of around 2.3 million is a member of OPEC, and oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But nearly 40% of Gabonese between 15 and 24 were out of work in 2022, according to the World Bank.

Gabon's economy grew by 2.9% in 2024, up from 2.4% in 2023, fueled by a surge in infrastructure projects under the transitional government and increased production of key commodities, including oil, manganese, and timber.

Gabon has been well-known for its biodiversity and conservation interest under Bongo, and it was not immediately clear how the increased production of timber has affected that.

While campaigning, Oligui Nguema has talked extensively about natural conservation.

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Associated Press writers Yves Laurent Goma in Libreville, Gabon and Monika Pronczuk in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.