Gabon votes on new constitution hailed by junta as 'turning point'

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during Gabon’s referendum in Libreville, on November 16, 2024.[AFP]

Gabon on Saturday held a referendum on a new constitution that the ruling junta calls a "major turning point" after a coup ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo dynasty in the oil-rich nation.

The central African country's 860,000 registered voters have faced an onslaught of calls by authorities on TV, radio and social media to make their ballot count -- whether they choose a green one meaning "yes" or a red one for "no".

With the campaign dominated by official propaganda, local media say voter turnout will be a key factor.

Voting began late at several polling stations in the capital Libreville, including at the Lycee Leon M'Ba school where green and red ballot papers were still being handed out when the polls opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT), AFP reporters saw.

The country's 2835 polling stations are due to remain open until 6:00 pm (0500 GMT).

"We have a date with history," transitional President General Brice Oligui Nguema declared on X, alongside a photo of himself in civilian dress and baseball cap, with a voting card in his hand.

The proposed constitution sets out a vision of a presidency with a maximum of two seven-year-terms, no prime minister and no dynastic transfer of power.

It would also require presidential candidates to be exclusively Gabonese -- with at least one Gabon-born parent -- and have a Gabonese spouse.

This would eliminate toppled ruler Ali Bongo Ondimba, who is married to a Frenchwoman, and his children.

The vote is a key step towards the return to civilian rule promised by the military after its August 2023 ousting of Bongo.

Oligui has vowed to hand power back to civilians after a two-year transition but has made no secret of his desire to win a presidential election scheduled for August 2025.

Billboards adorned with an image of the general and urging a "yes" vote are everywhere, the Union newspaper commented on Friday, prompting it to ask: "Referendum or presidential campaign?"

Nathalie Badzoko, a 33-year-old civil servant, said she was voting "yes" and had faith in the junta but admitted she had "not read the whole text" and its 173 articles.

Louembe Tchizinga, a 45-year-old taxi driver casting his ballot, echoed her.

Opponents of the proposed text dismiss it as tailor-made for the strongman to remain in power.

"We are creating a dictator who designs the constitution for himself," lawyer Marlene Fabienne Essola Efountame said, during a debate last Sunday organised by state television.

Bongo ruled for 14 years until he was overthrown moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election which the army and opposition declared fraudulent.

He took office on the death of his father Omar, who had ruled with an iron fist for more than 41 years.

The opposition and the military coup leaders accused Ali Bongo's regime of widespread corruption, bad governance and embezzlement.

The interior ministry says it has done all it can to ensure Saturday's referendum is transparent, including by inviting international observers -- who were not present in the August 2023 presidential election.

Provisional results will be released as soon as possible, with the final ones announced by the constitutional court, the ministry said.

Polls on the outcome have not been released.

But nearly 87 percent of those asked said they think the country is "heading in the right direction", according to an Afrobarometer survey among 1,200 respondents published mid-October.

Unemployment topped the list of concerns, followed by health, roads, insecurity and a rise in the cost of living, the survey also suggested.

And, more than 46 percent have "great confidence" in Oligui, who would be the favourite if a presidential election were to take place now.