The People of Gabon will determine whether to elect President Ali Bongo Ondimba to a third term in a vote versus Albert Ondo Ossa, who has gathered most of the late opposition’s support.
In addition to the 2.3 million registered voters who are also required to cast ballots in the parliamentary and municipal elections, there are fourteen candidates running for president in this single-round election.
At noon, dozens of voters were waiting outside polling stations in central Libreville, whose streets, decked out in the colours of the Bongo camp alone, were surprisingly almost deserted for a Saturday.
These elections are taking place in the absence of foreign media, who have been refused accreditation or entry to the country, as Reporter sans Frontières (RSF) denounced on Friday, and without international observers, both African and European.
Mr Ondo Ossa promises to “oust” the president and his all-powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) from power through the ballot box, and to put an end to a “Bongo dynasty” that has been in power for over 55 years, and which the opposition accuses of poor governance and “corruption”.
Ali Bongo, president for 14 years, was first elected in 2009 following the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for over 41 years.
Mr Ondo Ossa was already lamentin the opposition’s “malice” on his Facebook page by mid-morning, saying that the ballot papers of five opposition candidates who had formally withdrawn in his favor were still present at some voting places, while his own were lacking in others.
