Since 1967, Omar Bongo has ruled the sub-Saharan country. A recent constitutional change suggests he will never leave.

Mario Canseco

In a decisive year for democratic participation in Africa, one country insists on wobbling far away from the pack. As the continent gets ready for life without Charles Taylor in Liberia, long-awaited elections in Rwanda and votes in Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania, Gabon just enabled its head of state to remain in office for an indefinite lapse.

Omar Bongo does not fit the profile of the long-serving African leader. In 1967, he took over after the death of Leon Mba, the only previous president since Gabon became independent from France. In a time when coups were the norm, Mba survived a three-day revolt with the help of French troops. Bongo has never faced one. The presence of close to 50 different ethnic groups has not resulted in widespread unrest or civil war.

Despite years of service in the French air force, Bongo did not strong-arm his way to political power, opting instead for an economic agenda based on oil revenues and foreign investment. Bongo saw no need for representative structures, as Gabon became a success story, boasting one of the highest per-capita incomes in sub-Saharan Africa. The country remained a one-party state for the first 24 years of his rule.

Gabon's constitution—tabled only after relentless pressure by advocacy groups and opposition organizations—originally contemplated Bongo's retirement in 2005. Last month, the 68-year-old president asked a fiercely loyal Parliament to overturn the body of law through a series of amendments. The order was nothing new for lawmakers in the country, who have modified articles 15 previous times, always heeding Bongo's wishes.

This latest development could definitely cloud a series of democratic feats that figuratively shook the country. In the early 1990s, as oil prices dropped dramatically, Bongo felt pressured to allow other political organizations. In 1991, new parties were finally established.

In the 1993 presidential election, the opposition cried foul after Bongo was declared the winner with 51 per cent of the vote, the minimum amount required to avoid a run-off. Several months of uncertainty came to an end with an agreement signed by rival factions in September 1994. Still, the momentum for regime change was building. Parties began to prepare for the 1998 election, certain that Bongo's tenure was all but over.

It was not to be. Infighting between key members of the Rassemblement National des Bûcherons (RSB—National Woodcutters Rally) split the party into three factions. A broken opposition was no match for the incumbent, as Bongo obliterated his competitors with 66.6 per cent of the vote. A 2001 parliamentary election consolidated Bongo's power, as his Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG—Gabonese Democratic Party) dominated the nation's political landscape, with outright majorities in both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The latest constitutional amendment has prompted Pierre Mamboundou, distant runner-up in the 1998 election, to call on the world for help. The opposition leader is personally committed to mobilizing the population in order to preserve the outcome of the next election.

Winning against Bongo in 2005 will be a laborious task. International observers have offered mixed reviews of previous votes, stating that limited access renders them unable to dispense a true analysis of the suffrage. While many nations around the world are opting for independent electoral commissions, Gabon's interior ministry is still in charge of tallying the ballots.

Archive Search

Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Politics In Depth archive.