2023-09-09 13:14:39
Article informationAuthor, Armand Mouko BoudomboRole, BBC Africa
47 minutes ago
The text published in the official Gabonese newspaper does not exclude a candidacy by the president of the Gabonese transition for the presidential election at the end of the transition period.
From the outset, the text consulted by the BBC establishes the priorities of the members who will lead the transition. This will include, among other things, the “refoundation of the State in order to build strong, credible and legitimate institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, a transparent and inclusive, peaceful and sustainable democratic process, the only guarantees for the true development of Gabon” , or even “strengthening the independence of Justice and the fight against impunity”.
Two major silences remain observable when reading this charter of the constitution, on which General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema took the oath on September 4: the duration of the transition period and the question of the eligibility or not of the president of the Gabonese transition. Indeed, the text makes no mention of these two concerns.
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The transition will be led by five bodies, including the President of the Transition, the National Council of the Transition, the Government of the Transition; the Parliament of the Transition; the Constitutional Court of the Transition. All members of these bodies do not have the right to run in the presidential election at the end of the transition, including the Prime Minister and the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic.
Even the vice-president of the transition, who is not an essential body of the transition, but who can be appointed and dismissed by the transitional president, will not have the right to run in the future presidential election.
But the charter of the constitution does not clearly exclude the president from the transition from a probable candidacy.
Contacted by the BBC, Telesphore Ngomo Obame, the new presidential spokesperson appointed on Thursday, finds no problem with this.
For him, “there will be a new constitution that will be put in place,” he said. “This constitution will determine who is a candidate and who cannot be… The president of the transition is only in arbitration mode, and must ensure that those who will work on the implementation of the new institutions do not influence one way or the other because they harbor ambitions,” he explains.
Photo credit, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
image caption,
The charter of the constitution does not clearly exclude the president from the transition from a probable candidacy.
General Oligui will be assisted by a national transition council, whose members are all military personnel, who will return to their original functions at the end of the transition.
We also note in this charter, the presence of a bicameral parliament, all of whose members are appointed by the president of the transition. Most of them will come from political groups, employers, civil society, religious groups among others.
Amnesty for the junta, and the question of nationality
The transition charter exempts the soldiers who overthrew President Ali Bongo from the evening of events until the inauguration of the transition leader.
“The members of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, abbreviated CTRI, and all the actors who participated in the events from August 29, 2023 to the inauguration of the President of the Transition, benefit from immunity. As such , they cannot be prosecuted or arrested for acts committed during said events. An amnesty law will be adopted for this purpose”, we can read in article 50 of the charter.
The question of nationality also comes up, one must “be of Gabonese nationality of origin” to be designated to the various functions provided for by the charter. A start of certainly a response to the promise to review the conditions of access to Gabonese nationality made by General Oligui Nguema during his inauguration.
This is a thorny issue in Gabon, where the appointment of people with dual nationalities or foreign nationalities is often contested by citizens.
The charter may undergo modifications, but the initiative lies with the “President of the Transition and one third (1/3) of the members of the Parliament of the Transition”. The draft or proposed revision will then go through a vote in parliament, and will need the approval of 4/5ths of the members to be adopted.
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