For the next presidential election in Gabon, the electoral commission announced that 19 candidates, including the country’s president Ali Bongo and numerous former ministers, had been approved.
Despite opposition concerns that Bongo is unqualified for the president, his candidacy was allowed.
In October 2018, he had a stroke, and for medical care, he was transported by air to Morocco.
Michel Stephane Bonda, the head of the Gabonese Elections Center, reported on Sunday that 27 applications had been received by the deadline for submitting nomination papers and that 19 of them had been approved.
After the passing of his father, Omar Bongo, Bongo was elected president in a difficult election in 2009, and he was re-elected in 2016. The opposition, however, contested Bongo’s victories in both elections, alleging that he won fraudulently.
After nearly 14 years in power, he is running for a third term, as there are no term restrictions under Gabon’s constitution.
Bongo’s biggest rival is the former Mines Minister Alexandre Barro Chambrier. The economist, who was born in Paris, is participating in the presidential election for the first time.
Other contenders include Raymond Ndong Sima, a former prime minister, and Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou, the Social Democratic Party’s founder and leader.
The presidential election will be contested starting from August 11th and ending on August 26th.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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