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Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is 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 nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its population is estimated at 2.1 million people. There are three distinct regions: the coastal plains, the mountains, and the savanna in the east. Gabon's capital and largest city is Libreville. The official language is French.
Little is known of the history of Gabon prior to 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 center 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.
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. The judicial branch, like other two branches, is technically independent and equal to other three 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.
Telecommunications in Gabon include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as a young official under Gabon's first President Léon M'ba in the 1960s, before being elected Vice-President in his own right in 1966. In 1967, he succeeded M'ba to become the second Gabon President, upon the latter's death.
Jean Ping is a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Chair of the African Union Commission from 2008 to 2012. Born to a Chinese father and Gabonese mother, he is the first individual of Chinese descent to lead the executive branch of the African Union.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York.
Stéphane N'Guéma is a former Gabonese football player, who played as a winger.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, sometimes known as Ali Bongo, is a Gabonese politician who has been the third president of Gabon since October 2009.
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 27 November 2005. Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967, sought another seven-year term against four other candidates. According to an announcement of results by the country's interior minister, the result was a victory for Bongo, who received 79.2% of the vote. Bongo was sworn in for another seven-year term on 19 January 2006.
Pierre Mamboundou was a Gabonese politician. He was President of the Union of the Gabonese People (UPG), an opposition party in Gabon, from 1989 to 2011.
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.
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 6 December 1998. Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967, sought a seven-year term against five other candidates. It was Gabon's second multi-party presidential election and, despite low turnout and polling problems, Bongo won the election with 66.88% of the vote.
The 1964 Gabonese coup d'état was staged between 17 and 18 February 1964 by Gabonese military officers who rose against Gabonese President Léon M'ba. Before the coup, Gabon was seen as one of the most politically stable countries in Africa. The coup resulted from M'ba's dissolution of the Gabonese legislature on 21 January 1964, and during a takeover with few casualties 150 coup plotters arrested M'ba and a number of his government officials. Through Radio Libreville, they asked the people of Gabon to remain calm and assured them that the country's pro-France foreign policy would remain unchanged. A provisional government was formed, and the coup's leaders installed Deputy Jean-Hilaire Aubame, who was M'ba's primary political opponent and had been uninvolved in the coup, as president. Meanwhile, M'ba was sent to Lambaréné, 250 kilometres (155 mi) from Libreville. There was no major uprising or reaction by the Gabonese people when they received word of the coup, which the military interpreted as a sign of approval.
Jean-Boniface Assélé is a Gabonese politician and the President of the Circle of Liberal Reformers (CLR). He served in the government of Gabon from 1975 to 1990 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces from 1970 to 1989 and held the rank of General. Since September 2009, Assélé has been the Fourth Vice-President of the Senate of Gabon.
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.
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 27 August 2016. Incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba ran for re-election and was challenged by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Ping. On 31 August, the electoral commission proclaimed Bongo's re-election with a margin of less than two percent. Large protests broke out in the capital Libreville after the results were announced. Numerous irregularities and the official results from Haut-Ogooue showing that 99.9% of the electorate had voted and Bongo had received 95.5% of the votes led observers to question the impartiality of the electoral commission.
After the 27 August 2016 presidential election in Gabon, in which President Ali Bongo Ondimba was narrowly re-elected against opposition candidate Jean Ping, armed clashes between supporters of Ping, who claimed victory, and police erupted, resulting in the authorities blocking the internet in Libreville.
Gabon, also known as the Gabonese Republic is a sovereign state located in Central Africa along the Atlantic coastline. Gabon gained its independence from France in 1960. Human rights are rights that are inherent and universal to all human beings. Typical human rights include, freedom of speech, freedom of slavery, freedom of fair representation, a right to adequate living standards and exclusion of child labour. These human rights and more are included in the Declaration of Human Rights legislated by the United Nations of which the Gabonese Republic is a party. Gabon has signed multiple conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all of which are binding to them. However, despite Gabon having ratified many of these human rights conventions and laws within their own sovereign state there are still ongoing human right issues such as human trafficking, child trafficking, lack of political freedom and poverty. Political freedom is an essential human right in all societies and nations as it helps to protect democratic systems. The Gabonese governments have drawn criticism from multiple non-governmental organizations such as Freedom House and foreign governing bodies, especially the United States Department, for the lack of transparency of their political systems.
The 2009 Gabonese protests was rioting and popular disturbances with immediate unrest and violent opposition-led street demonstrations and growing civil disobedience movement across Port Gentil and Libreville in Gabon after the immediate results of the 2009 Gabonese presidential election was announced. Tow were left dead amid the unrest, clashes and fighting between the rival forces. French interference in the actions sparked national outrage, one of the causes if the immediate unrest.
References
- ↑ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007. Government Printing Office. August 2008. p. 229.
- ↑ "Gabon police clash with marchers". BBC. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ↑ Gualbert Mezui Ndong, Phal (27 January 201). "Gabon police tear gas protesters, tensions rise". Reuters. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
