Libreville, Thursday, July 20, 2023 (Infos Gabon) – It no longer recognizes itself in the memorandum sent on May 22, 2022 to the government in the form of a plea for a reform of the national electoral system.
Bad faith, simple oversight or deliberate will to harm? Would we be tempted to ask ourselves this question in the light of the claims and other accusations made by the Gabonese opposition to the Gabonese Election Center (CGE). On July 14, 2023, a group of opponents made up of Alexandre Barro Chambrier, Raymond Ndong Sima, François Obiang, Mike Joctane, Paulette Missamba and several other major figures stormed the premises of the Constitutional Court at the effect of denouncing the modification of certain provisions of article 77 of law 07/96 of March 12, 1996, laying down provisions common to all political elections in the Gabonese Republic. This law had been ratified by the government during the Council of Ministers on July 12th.
Except that the protesters seem to have a short memory, forgetting that they sent the government a memorandum on May 22, 2022 entitled: “Plea for the political parties of the Opposition for a reform of the national electoral system”. On page 6 of this document, the opposition claims at the level of the ballot papers, the “removal of the joined envelopes; the introduction of the single bulletin in A3 format and alphabetical registration; the single ballot given to each elector must be authenticated, and, at the bottom, by the two vice-presidents. She also called for “improving the Gabonese electoral framework and preventing the risk of protest and the violence that accompanies it”. Proposals to which the government has acceded.
The replica Gabonese Election Center
Accused of preparing the ground for the candidate of the ruling Majority, Ali Bongo Ondimba, for a resounding victory on August 26, the Gabonese Election Center (CGE) has given its version of the facts. During a press conference given on July 17 in Libreville, its president, Michel Stéphane Bonda, wanted to further build public opinion on the changes made to the electoral law. According to him, “the use of the attached envelope, already complex, generates too many invalid votes and lengthens the act of voting and the time of counting”. And that “the trash part of the said envelope reserved for the ballots of candidates who have not been chosen” is narrow and cannot contain more than 10 ballots. “For the organization of the general elections of August 2023, the Gabonese Elections Center has suggested the use of an ordinary electoral envelope, with the only opening, the party voting, the rest of the ballots not chosen will be placed in the garbage card provided in the voting booth,” continued Michel Stéphane Bonda.
As for the representation of the candidates in the polling stations, the president of the CGE wants to be more explicit. “The fact of the matter is that the small size of the voting room causes it to become overcrowded, characterized by an overabundance of candidates’ representatives”. The body in charge of the elections thus suggested to the authorities that the lists or the candidates in the running be represented in the polling station by three voters designated equally by the parties or groups of political parties legally recognized by the different parties. Regarding the authentication of ballots, the CGE is for it to be purely and simply abolished. “To save material time and to prevent, on the one hand, the dissatisfaction of voters arising from this ballot authentication operation, and on the other hand, any manipulations likely to lead to the cancellation of the vote of voters, we recommended the abolition of this operation which considerably slows down the rapid access of voters to the polling station. Furthermore, the complexity of the organization of the general elections will undoubtedly have consequences on the deadlines set by law, for voting operations which must be carried out from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., if new arrangements are not made”, underlined Michel Stephane Bonda.
FIN/INFOSGABON/SM/2023
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