Gabon will hold presidential elections on August 26, the oil-rich central-west African country said on Tuesday, with President Ali Bongo Ondimba strong favourite to win against a divided opposition.Bongo has not yet said whether he will stand again, but he has been on a nationwide tour for several months, fuelling expectations that he will bid for third term.His powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) holds strong majorities in both houses of parliament and calls Bongo its “natural candidate.”Bongo, 64, took over from his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, the country’s ruler for 41 years, in 2009.The president was narrowly re-elected in 2016, with just 5,500 more votes than rival Jean Ping who claimed the election had been fixed.Announcement of the results sparked violence in the capital Libreville that killed four civilians and a policeman, according to the government, while the opposition says 30 people were shot dead by the security forces.Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018 and spent months on the sidelines recovering, prompting the opposition to question his fitness to run the nation.He still has a stiff arm and leg and has mobility difficulties, but in recent months has held “republican meetings” around the country and made official visits abroad, including for summits.The Bongo family has ruled the country for 55 years and is branded a “dynastic power” by the opposition.But the opposition has failed to agree on a single candidate for the election, leaving some 15 candidates to announce their intentions to stand.Former minister Paulette Missambo, head of the National Union party, has said she will run, although several of Bongo’s fiercest critics have yet to declare their hand.  They include Alexandre Barro Chambrier, who served as a minister to the current president and his father.In April, the Gabonese parliament voted to amend the constitution and reduce the president’s term from seven to five years.Sections of the opposition criticised the changes, in particular the end of two rounds of voting, as a means of “facilitating the re-election” of Bongo. The amendments bring all mandates into line at five years and make all elections single-round ballots again after the last changes to the constitution in 2018 set up two rounds of voting.The presidential ballot will coincide with elections for the National Assembly and regional and municipal councils, with July 11 set as the deadline for filing candidacies.- Oil wealth -Gabon is one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of per capita GDP due largely to its oil revenue and relatively small population of 2.3 million. Crude represents 38.5 percent of its GDP, and 70.5 percent of its export revenues.Other areas of activity are manganese mining and forestry, but efforts to diversify the economy remain in low gear.”Despite its economic potential, the country is struggling to translate its resource wealth into sustainable and inclusive growth,” the World Bank said last year, noting that a third of the population still lived below the poverty threshold.
