More than a year after a military coup, Gabonese citizens have held a referendum in which they approved a new draft constitution. The constitutional revisions targeted dynastic rule by introducing presidential term limits and banning family members of a sitting president from running for the office.
A controversial aspect of the new constitution is that it allows coup leader General Brice Oliqui Nguema to run for president in the country’s general presidential election slated for August 2025.
Civil society and opposition figures have expressed concerns about the possibility of the general’s candidacy. They argue that it would contradict the military’s earlier promises of civilian rule. And that it would entrench the armed forces’ role in politics. This is a country that has suffered 56 years – 1967 to 2023 – of authoritarian rule by the Bongo family.
