 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 100% | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
 |
|---|
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 30 December 1979, the first time they had been held separately from National Assembly elections. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) as the sole legal party. PDG leader and incumbent president Omar Bongo was the only candidate, and was re-elected unopposed. [1] Voter turnout was allegedly near 100%.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omar Bongo | Gabonese Democratic Party | 725,807 | 100.00 | |
| Total | 725,807 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 725,807 | 99.97 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 236 | 0.03 | ||
| Total votes | 726,043 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 726,079 | 100.00 | ||
| Source: African Elections Database | ||||
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and a population of 2.3 million people. There are coastal plains, mountains, and a savanna in the east. Libreville is the country's capital and largest city.
Little is known of the history of Gabon before European contact. Bantu migrants settled the area beginning in the 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived in the area in the late 15th century. The coast subsequently became a centre of the transatlantic slave trade with European slave traders arriving to the region in the 16th century. In 1839 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coast. In 1849, captives released from a captured slave ship founded Libreville. In 1862–1887, France expanded its control including the interior of the state, and took full sovereignty. In 1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa and in 1960, Gabon became independent.
The politics of Gabon takes place in a framework of a republic whereby the president of Gabon is head of state and in effect, also the head of government, since he appoints the prime minister and his cabinet. The government is divided into three branches: the executive headed by the prime minister, the legislative that is formed by the two chambers of parliament, and the judicial branch. The judicial branch is technically independent and equal to the two other branches, although in practice, since its judges are appointed by the president, it is beholden to the same president. Since independence the party system is dominated by the conservative Gabonese Democratic Party.
Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane is a Gabonese politician who was Prime Minister of Gabon from 23 January 1999 to 20 January 2006. He was Mayor of Libreville, the capital, from 2008 to 2014.
The Gabonese Democratic Party is a political party in Gabon. It was the dominant political party in Gabonese politics from 1961 until 2023, when it was deposed in a coup d'état against President Ali Bongo. It was also the sole legal party between 1968 and 1990.
Elections in Gabon take place within the framework of a presidential multi-party democracy with the Gabonese Democratic Party, in power since independence, as the dominant party. The President and National Assembly are directly elected, whilst the Senate is indirectly elected.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, also known as Ali Bongo and Ali Ben Bongo, is a Gabonese former politician who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. He is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009. During his father's presidency, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was the Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009. After his father's death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election. He was reelected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence.
Jean Eyeghé Ndong is a Gabonese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Gabon from January 20, 2006 to July 17, 2009. He was also the First Vice-president of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) until 2009.
The Senate (Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 67 members, elected in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors or appointed by the president for a six-year term. Beginning with the 2009 election, some constituencies elect two senators.
Parliamentary elections were held in Gabon on 17 December 2006, although voting in seven seats took places on 24 December 2006 due to logistical problems. The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) won 82 seats, with other parties that supported President Omar Bongo winning another seventeen seats, among them the National Woodcutters' Rally of Paul M'ba Abessole with seven seats, the Democratic and Republican Alliance with three seats, the Circle of Reformist Liberals with two seats and the Social Democratic Party with one seat.
Local elections were held in Gabon on April 27–30, 2008, with 1,990 municipal and departmental councillors being elected.
André Mba Obame was a Gabonese politician. After serving as an adviser to President Omar Bongo in the 1980s, he was a minister in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009; during that time, he was identified with the reformist wing of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). He held the key post of Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 and then briefly served as Minister of the Coordination and Follow-up of Government Action in mid-2009. He was an independent candidate in the 30 August 2009 presidential election and placed third with 25.33% of the vote, according to official results, but he claimed victory and alleged that the PDG candidate, Ali Bongo, won through fraud.
Jacques Adiahénot is a Gabonese politician. He was Secretary-General of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) from 1991 to 1994 and subsequently served as a minister in the government of Gabon from 1994 to 2009.
Early presidential elections were held in Gabon on 30 August 2009. They took place due to the death of incumbent President Omar Bongo on 8 June, after more than 41 years as the sole president of Gabon. While the constitution stated that interim President Rose Francine Rogombé should organise elections within 30 to 45 days, the Constitutional Court accepted the government's request for a delay due to the circumstances.
Léonard Andjembé is a Gabonese politician and professor. He is currently the First Vice-president of the Senate of Gabon, and he was the Senate's Interim President for several months in 2009.
Louis-Gaston Mayila is a Gabonese politician. He is the President of the Union for the New Republic (UPRN), a political party.
General elections were held in Gabon on 25 February 1973 to elect a President and the National Assembly. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) as the sole legal party. PDG leader and incumbent president Omar Bongo was the only candidate in the presidential election, and was elected unopposed. In the National Assembly election the PDG put forward a list of 70 candidates for the 70 seats in the expanded Assembly. Voter turnout was allegedly 97.8%.
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 9 November 1986. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) as the sole legal party. PDG leader and incumbent president Omar Bongo was the only candidate, and was re-elected unopposed. Voter turnout was reported to be 99.9%.
Parliamentary elections were held in Gabon on 17 December 2011. Amidst an opposition boycott, the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) won a landslide victory; official results were announced on 21 December 2011, showing that the PDG won 113 out of 120 seats, the most it had won since the beginning of multiparty politics in the early 1990s. A few other parties won the handful of seats remaining: the Rally for Gabon (RPG) won three seats, while the Circle of Liberal Reformers (CLR), the Independent Centre Party (PGCI), Social Democratic Party (PSD), and the Union for the New Republic (UPRN) won a single seat each.
Parliamentary elections were held in Gabon in 2018 alongside municipal elections; the first round was held on 6 October and the second round on 27 October. Despite losing 15 seats, the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party maintained its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, winning 98 of the 143 seats.
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary elections | |
| Departmental elections | |
| Local elections | |
| French elections | |
| Referendums | |
