The new Constitution was largely approved by referendum.

Green votes largely won over red votes. According to provisional data published on Sunday, November 17 by the Gabonese Ministry of the Interior, 91.8% of voters validated the “yes” to the new constitution drafted by the military regime of General Brice Oligui Nguema.

On the crucial issue of this referendum promoted by the country’s new strongman, the participation rate increased to 53.54%, well below the first estimates (71%).

In total, 868,115 voters were called on Saturday to cast their green vote for “yes” or red for “no” during election day, presented by the Government as a “Historical moment” and “great turning point” for the country, just over a year after the coup d’état that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family.

Once the Constitutional Court confirms the final results, the next step will be the holding of presidential elections, currently scheduled for August 2025, to definitively end the transition. General Oligui promised to return power to civilians, but does not hide his presidential ambitions by also promising a “ascent to blessedness” to this oil-rich and heavily indebted country. “We are here to build the country and we will build this country together”he declared on Friday to applause while inaugurating a market in Libreville.

There were no major incidents during the vote.

Since Friday, the authorities have reinforced the curfew imposed since the coup, with hours “redeveloped since [minuit] at 5 in the morning during the entire period of the electoral process”.

No major incidents were reported during voting day, according to the authorities and according to the Citizen Observer Network (ROC), a platform of local associations supported by the United Nations.

The government presented it as “guarantee of transparency” the presence of around thirty international observation missions – marginalized during the August 2023 presidential elections that led to the re-election of Ali Bongo and then his dismissal following accusations of electoral fraud and misappropriation of public funds. If you could follow the development of the vote, “The observers were not able to attend the counting process in certain offices”according to the ROC, which had deployed 250 people on the ground.

In accordance with the Gabonese electoral code, the ballots were incinerated at each of the polling stations after counting. The reporting of the results was centralized in the Ministry of the Interior, which replaced the electoral authorities dissolved after the coup.

The vote, organized “in a transition context where aspirations for new governance and structural reforms have crystallized”stopped in a “calm and serene environment” with a “structured and functional organization”the Republic of China stressed in a statement published on Sunday.

Opponents denounced a text that allows a “dictatorial” regime

Dominated by official propaganda, the campaign that began in early November was marked by lively debates. Opponents of the project denounced a text that allows a regime “dictatorial” Tailor-made for the transitional president, his supporters affirmed that it was necessary to move forward by voting “yes.”

The 173 articles of the new fundamental law, the result of contributions collected in the spring during a national dialogue, establish, among other things, a seven-year mandate renewable once, with a presidential regime endowed with strong executive power, without a main president. minister and the impossibility of a dynastic transmission of power.

Its second article sets in stone the coming to power of the junta headed by General Oligui on August 30, 2023, with the establishment of a “liberation celebration.” Article 170 exempts from prosecution and conviction. “the actors of the events that range from August 29, 2023 to the inauguration of the president of the transition”September 4.

Several provisions may not be subject to any future revision. Among them: the limit of two successive presidential terms, the election method by direct universal suffrage or even marriage reserved for two people of opposite sexes. New provision: military service becomes mandatory, both for girls and boys.