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2023 Gabonese general election

26 August 2023
Presidential election
← 20162025 →
Turnout	56.65%
Nominee Ali Bongo Ondimba Albert Ondo Ossa Party PDG A23 Popular vote 293,919 140,690 Percentage 64.27% 30.77%
President before election Ali Bongo Ondimba PDG Elected President Election results annulled General Brice Oligui named Transitional President
Parliamentary election
← 20182025 →
All 143 seats in the National Assembly 72 seats needed for a majority
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Alain Claude Bilie By Nze PDG Election results annulled Raymond Ndong Sima named Interim Prime Minister

Politics of Gabon
Constitution Human rights
Government President (transitional) Brice Oligui Nguema Vice President (transitional) Joseph Owondault Berre Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima (transitional)
Parliament Senate President: Paulette Missambo National Assembly President: Jean-François Ndongou
Administrative divisions Provinces Departments Cantons and communes
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2023 2025 Parliamentary: 2023 2025 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Régis Onanga Ndiaye Diplomatic missions of / in Gabon Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Other countries
v t e

General elections were held in Gabon on 26 August 2023. Incumbent president Ali Bongo ran for re-election, representing the Gabonese Democratic Party, which had ruled the country continuously since its independence from France in 1960, including 41 years under Bongo's father, Omar.

Bongo was declared the winner on 30 August. However, a coup d'état began shortly afterward, leading to the election results being annulled.

Local and departmental elections were held the same day.

Background

The previous presidential election was held on 27 August 2016. On the day after the elections, opposition leader Jean Ping declared victory and said that he was "waiting for the outgoing president to call to congratulate me," although no results had been officially announced. Only the electoral commission was legally permitted to announce results, and the Minister of the Interior, Pacôme Moubelet-Boubeya, accused Ping of "attempt to manipulate the democratic process," while Bongo said that "you must not sell the skin of the bear before you've killed him." Nevertheless, Bongo's spokesman, Alain Claude Bilie By Nzé, asserted that Bongo was ahead and would be re-elected. Official results were scheduled to be announced on 30 August, but on that date it was stated that the announcement would be delayed by a few hours. Results were finally announced on 31 August, showing a narrow victory for Bongo, who won 49.8% of the vote against 48.2% for Ping. Turnout was placed at 59.5%. The opposition's representatives on the electoral commission refused to confirm the results, and they were therefore confirmed by a vote in which the opposition members abstained. Ping's supporters maintained that the mostly complete results they had independently collected showed their candidate beating Bongo by a large margin, 59% to 38%. Notably, the official results from Haut-Ogooue (the Bongo family's native province) showed Bongo receiving 95.5% of the vote on an alleged 99.9% turnout, an improbable result sparking widespread protests. Bongo, noting that the vote was close, stressed the importance of peacefully respecting this outcome.

Following the announcement of official results, protests broke out in Libreville on 31 August, with attempts made to storm the election commission's offices. Police were out in force and tried to disperse the protesters. The Parliament building was set on fire later in the day. The following day, Ping claimed that the presidential guard had bombed his party's headquarters, killing two people. By 2 September at least five people had been killed in the capital and 1,000 more had been arrested. The United Nations expressed "deep concern" about the violence. Along with France and the United States, it called for de-escalation on both sides of the dispute and pressed for more transparent detail on the vote outcome.

Opposition call for fair elections

On 12 December 2022, the entire Gabonese opposition gathered in Libreville for the start of a series of meetings in view of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections. This meeting, at the call of the National Union, brought together fifty parties, including civil society leaders. The meeting was meant to put pressure on the government to reform the electoral process, and remind the public authorities of the need for consultation with the opposition. For Paulette Missambo, president of National Union, urgent reforms were needed in order to ensure a fair election.

Electoral system

The President of Gabon is elected for a five-year term (reduced from seven years in April 2023) in a single round of voting by plurality; whichever candidate places first is deemed elected, regardless of whether the candidate secured an absolute majority of votes. This system is thought to be a disadvantage to the fractious opposition, which would appear to have little chance of winning unless it unites behind a single candidate.

The 143 members of the National Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies using the two-round system.

The elections were held using double simultaneous vote system, with voters casting a single ballot for their preferred candidate for president and National Assembly.

Candidates

20 candidates were approved by the Gabonese electoral congress for the 2023 presidential election.

Jean Ping, the former chair of the African Union Commission who received 48% of the vote in the 2016 presidential election, declined to stand, saying "I cannot be a candidate in an election that is a foregone conclusion".

Conduct

The government announced the indefinite restriction of internet access and a nightly curfew on the evening of the election following the end of voting. The same day, the government suspended broadcasts of French media channels France 24, RFI, and TV5Monde.

Results

President

The national electoral body announced on Wednesday, 30 August, that President Ali Bongo Ondimba, already in office for 14 years, won re-election for a third term with 64.27 percent of the vote.

According to Michel Stephane Bonda, head of the Gabonese Elections Centre, on state television, Bongo defeated his major competitor Albert Ondo Ossa, who received 30.77 percent of the vote, in a single round of voting, while 12 other candidates split the remaining votes. The voter turnout was 56.65%.

National Assembly

The results of the elections for the Parliament of Gabon were unclear following the coup d'état four days after the general election.

Aftermath

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023)

After Ali Bongo Ondimba's election victory was announced, a military-led coup took place, which annulled the results of the election.

The coup occurred just minutes after Bongo's re-election was declared at 3:30 am WAT by the Gabonese electoral commission with 64.27% of the vote. During a televised morning address from the Presidential Palace in Libreville on the state channel Gabon 24, around a dozen military personnel announced the end of the existing regime, with a military spokesperson claiming to be speaking on behalf of a "Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions," citing "irresponsible, unpredictable governance" that had led to "a continuous degradation of social cohesion, risking pushing the country into chaos." They announced the annulment of the recent election, the dissolution of state institutions, and the closure of the country's borders. Internet access, which had been cut since the election, was reported to have been restored. Among the officers seen during the announcement were army colonels and members of the Republican Guard.

Following the announcement of the coup, celebrations broke out in the streets of Libreville and in other cities across the country.

A constitutional referendum is planned for November 2024.

References

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v t e Elections and referendums in Gabon
Presidential elections	1961 1967 1973 1979 1986 1993 1998 2005 2009 2016 2023 2025
Parliamentary elections	1946−47 1952 1957 1961 1964 1967 1973 1980 1985 1990 1996 2001 2006 2011 2018 2023 2025
Departmental elections	2018 2023
Local elections	1997 2002 2008 2013 2018 2023
French elections	1945 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Nov) 1951 1956
Referendums	1945 1946 (May) 1946 (Oct) 1958 1995 2024

• 2023 elections in Africa
• 2023 in Gabon
• August 2023 events in Africa
• Presidential elections in Gabon
• Parliamentary elections in Gabon
• Annulled elections