Due to the general elections taking place on Saturday August 26, 2023, Interior Minister Lambert Noël Matha has decided to close the land and sea borders from Friday August 25 to Saturday August 26 at midnight.
Polling stations open tomorrow morning in Gabon and in the country’s diplomatic representations abroad. 846,000 Gabonese are expected to decide between the 19 presidential candidates, as well as many others in the legislative and local elections. For the first time, the country is holding general elections. And the Minister of the Interior yesterday took an act deciding the closure of the land and sea borders, the time that separates the end of the electoral campaign from the closing of the polling stations and the delivery of the minutes. From Friday at midnight until tomorrow Saturday at midnight, the ministerial decision restricts the freedom to enter and leave the national territory on these two routes. Similarly, drinking establishments will be closed from this Friday, August 25 from 10 p.m. These measures aim not only to ensure security in the country, but also to encourage voters to go and fulfill their civic duty. However, the political climate is not peaceful. The opposition goes to the elections with persistent complaints and criticisms, such as that of the repeated modification of the electoral code in the run-up to the elections. A climate which hardened the tone of the Minister of the Interior who, in his decision, hammered home that this tense climate could impact peace and stability with regard to violent declarations, barricades and other acts of incivility posed in certain localities. Thus, the government is appealing to political actors. ” This is therefore the place to call on the political class as a whole to exercise greater restraint in the messages they send to their activists. And the nation cannot be weakened or put in danger, whatever the reason. We warn that no compromise will be found if by chance public order and the safety of the population were to be endangered,” notify the minister.
