Gabon - April 2025
First post-coup presidential election keeps Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema in power
On 12 April, Gabon held its first presidential election since the 2023 coup (which had immediately followed the August 2023 general presidential elections), four months ahead of the schedule set out in the transitional charter. The sitting transitional president and coup leader General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema won the election decisively running as an independent candidate with the endorsement of all major political parties. The Constitutional Court’s final tallies reported that he received 94.9 per cent of the votes. There were seven other candidates (all independent) in the election, only one of whom is a woman. Among the other candidates only Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze (who had been prime minister until the 2023 coup) received more than 1 per cent of the vote (with 3 per cent). The Constitutional Court reported turnout of 70.1 per cent, a significant increase from the reported provisional 56.6 per cent turnout in the 2023 presidential election. Observers from the Commonwealth found the election to be ‘largely transparent… and conducted in accordance with the established legislative framework of Gabon.’ The final phase of the transition will include the organization of legislative and local elections scheduled for 27 September and 11 October 2025.
Sources: France24, Associated Press, TV5 Monde, The Commonwealth
