The Presidential Election In Gabon Was Designed By The Transitional Gov’t For A Particular Person To Win, And That Was What Happened

Apart From The President of the Transitional Gov’t, General Oligui Nguema, And The Former PM, Billie  By – Ndze,  The Other Six Candidates Were Unknown Faces To The Gabonese People

Why The Transitional Gov’t Feared The Participation Of Candidates Of Major Opposition Parties, In The Presidential Election

Apart from the President of the Transitional Government in Gabon, General Oligui Nguema, the only other face among the seven other presidential candidates for the April 12, 2025 Presidential Election that was known in the country, was the former Prime Minister, Alain Claude Billie –By –Ndze. But of course it was clear to everyone that the Gabonese people could not vote for the person who was President Ali Bongo’s Prime Minister, or better still the Prime Minister of the Government that was overthrown on August 30, 2023.  The election of Ndze would have been like bringing back the former Government of Ali Bongo to power.  So it was certain that the Gabonese people could not vote for him.

Also, the emptiness, or better still the unpreparedness of most of the presidential candidates, was glaringly exposed during an interesting and special programme that Gabon 24 Tv  (State media) organized during the campaign period for 8 days. All the 8 presidential candidates took turns to face a team of no – nonsense senior journalists drawn from different media organs in Gabon. The journalists almost ‘killed’ the candidates with tough questions. Not even the President of the Transitional Government, General Oligue Nguema, was spared.

It came out clearly during the interviews that only the President of the Transitional Government, General Oligu Nguema, had a programme, and he presented the documented programme on different domains like the economy, education and so on. The former Prime Minister, Alain Claude Billie – By – Ndze, also had something in the sense of a programme. The other six presidential candidates had nothing. Some came for the special interview empty handed, and when asked about their programme, they said if elected   the Gabonese people will see their programmes in the field, and that they believed in actions and not words.  Hmmmmmmmm!

The Presidential Election Was A One Man Show

In fact many observers wondered whether some of those so called presidential candidates were not just brought in through an arrangement, to accompany General Oligui  Ngue to what very much looked like an arranged victory in the presidential election. During the official campaign period, only the posters of the President of  the Transitional Government, General Oligui Nguema, were seen all over the country, and to a little extent those of the former Prime Minister.  The other candidates, 5 out of  6 of whom were so called independent candidates, were absent, even in the capital, Libreville. In fact many Gabonese who were interviewed in the streets in Libreville, complained that it did not look like a presidential campaign period in Gabon.  The campaign was a one – man – show, and the one man of course was the President of the Transitional Government, General Oligui Nguema, who of course had all the means as President.

The President of the Transitional Government had since coming to power made many appointments across the country. General Oligui Nguema though an independent candidate, thus had the government machinery all over the country to mobilize support for his candidacy. Only the candidates of major political parties in the country that are implanted all over the country, could have been serious challengers to General Oligui Nguema in the presidential election. BUT THEN OPPOSITION CANDIDATES WERE ALL SCANDALOUSLY DISQUALIFIED IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, DEFINITELY AS A STRATEGY TO LEAVE THE PRESIDENT OF THE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT, GENERAL OLIGUI NGUE, WITH NO SERIOUS CHALLENGERS IN THE ELECTION. THIS WAS SO AS NOT ONLY TO GUARANTEE HIS VICTORY, BUT TO ENABLE HIM TO ALSO HAVE AN EASY WIN IN THE ELECTION, OR BETTER STILL, VICTORY WITHOUT STRESS”.

Some political observers, think that with the 2025 presidential election in Gabon having been successfully designed by the military in power to be a one – one – show, or better still an election designed for General Oligui Nguema, to win, the Transitional Government as part of the strategy allowed the voting and vote counting process on April 12 to be transparent, in a bid to give some credibility to the presidential election.

The Fear Of The Opposition By The Transitional Gov’t

The Gabonese opposition has been crying foul, insisting that the decision of the Electoral Commission as well as that of the Constitutional Court, to drop all candidates of opposition parties from the presidential election, was a manipulation by the Transitional Military Government, which they also say like many observers wanted Oligui Nguema to have an easy win at the April 12 presidential election.

Some people have asked why the military in power did not allow even just one of the candidates of the major opposition parties in Gabon, to run in the April 12 presidential election. But many observers think that the military guys were afraid of opposition parties or candidates in Gabon participating at the June 12 presidential election, because though they often look divided, they had proven that they can unite within a very short time.

It would be recalled that the major Gabonese opposition parties, went in for the August 26, 2023 presidential election that was organized by the Ali Bongo Government, in disperse ranks.  But just barely one week to the voting day, precisely on August 18, which was during the official campaign period, the leaderships of six major opposition parties met in Libreviile, and decided to designate and support one candidate. The six parties on that day created a coalition named, ‘Alternative 2023’, and designated the veteran and chief opposition leader, Prof Albert Ondo Ossa, as the coalition’s candidate.  The candidates of the other five opposition parties thus withdrew from the election, and together with their parties supported the candidacy of Prof Ondo Ossa.  The opposition coalition’s candidate went on to actually win the August 26, 2023 presidential election. The Ali Bongo Government tried to steal the victory, and the military jumped in, and took over power.

So it is thought that the Transitional Military Government in Gabon headed by General Oligui Nguema, was probably afraid that if candidates of major opposition parties were allowed to participate in the April 12, 2025 presidential election, the opposition parties could at one the line rally behind one candidate as they did in 2023, and pose a very big problem to General Oligue Nguema in the election.  That even if only the candidate of one major opposition party was allowed in the election, the other opposition parties could as well rally behind that candidate. So the conclusion should have been that the best way to guarantee a win for General Oligue Nguema, was to reject the candidacies of all major opposition parties.

Many Barons Of The Dethroned Ali Bongo Regime, Support Candidacy Of Oligui Nguema

Politics most a times is a very unpredictable game.  Who could have imagined that several barons of the PDG or Ali Bongo regime that was overthrown on August 30, 2023 in the military coup led by Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, would support, more so openly, the candidacy of General Oligui Nguema, at the April 12, 2025 presidential election! Who could have imagined that General Olgui Nguema would accept support from members of that regime, which he repeatedly, and rightly so, accused that to have ruined Gabon.

What happened was that the Gabonese opposition was initially friends with the Transitional Military Government, which had promised to hand back power to civilian rule. The opposition was of course happy when the national dialogue that the military government convened in Gabon, recommended that the ‘Parti Democratic Gabonese’, PDG, of the Bongos, that was overthrown on August 30, 2023, should be suspended from participating in all elections in Gabon for a period of three years.

But the relationship between the Gabonese opposition and the Transitional Military Government turned sour, when the candidates of all opposition parties were unfairly and scandalously pushed out of the April 12 presidential election race. Several barons of the PDG or Bongo regime that was overthrown on August 30, 2023, then took the opportunity to seek friendship with General Oligui Nguema, by individually declaring support for the candidacy of Oligui Nguema at the April 12 presidential election. It was a situation that created embarrassment to many in Government.

However When France 24 in an interview before the presidential election or voting day, asked General Oligui Nguema about the controversial support he was receiving from some members of the former regime, he said he welcomes support from all Gabonese, and that Gabon will have to be rebuild by all Gabonese people. Politics! Never say, never.