Posted on 08.11.2023 at 6:05 p.m. by Arnaud Nicolas Mawel
“It is a moment of exchange and confrontation of ideas between the candidates”, declared the president of the Gabonese Center for Elections, Michel Stéphane Bonda.
In 15 days, on August 26, 2023 precisely, the Gabonese will choose the new President of the Republic, the new members of Parliament, and their local representatives. For the first time in its history, the country, which is celebrating its 63rd anniversary of gaining independence on August 17, will organize the presidential election, the legislative elections and the municipal and departmental elections at the same time.
On behalf of the presidential election, 19 candidates are seeking votes for the next 5 years, including Ali Bongo Ondimba running for the third term. From this Friday, all begin a charm operation with voters registered on the electoral lists, both on the national territory and abroad.
Also, the groomed electoral file from May 09 to June 11, 2023 is available. The president of the Gabonese Elections Center Michel Stéphane Bonda received it from the hands of the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior Lambert-Noël Matha on July 30th. According to the data in the revised document, it contains 846,822 registered voters, including 830,729 registered within the borders of the State and 16,993 outside the borders.
To enable them to exercise their right to vote, 2,918 polling stations will be open. Voters will choose their candidates on a single ballot in the legislative and presidential elections. The campaign that opens today concerns the presidential election. In view of the legislative, municipal and departmental elections, the electoral campaign will begin on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
However, on the ground in Gabon, some opposition candidates say they are worried. On August 8, five of them visited the representative of the UN Secretary General in Central Africa, whose offices are in Libreville, Gabon. Presidential candidates Paulette Missambo, Alexandre Barro Chambrier, Terrance Gnembou, Raymond Ndong and Mike Joktane expressed their annoyance to Abdou Abarry following the repeated modification of the electoral code a few weeks before the elections. They called on the UN to ensure that the ballot was fair.
