Douglas Yates, American Graduate School in Paris (AGS)
Gabon’s military ruler risks becoming the country’s third autocratic leader if he fails to generate economic growth and return the country to democratic paths.
Ali Bongo Ondimba (in cap) and his wife, Sylvia (in blue shirt), at a campaign rally on 19 August 2023.
Malkolm M./Afrikimages Agency/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
There’s much more going on in the world than the Trump impeachment and Brexit. Here are five momentous global stories to track in 2020.
Campaign ads for Ali Bongo in his successful 2009 bid to succeed his father as president of Gabon. The Bongo family has lead Gabon uninterrupted for over 50 years.
Reuters/Daniel Magnowski
Gabon’s strongman president, Ali Bongo, is barely clinging to power after contested elections, a stroke and a coup attempt. The Bongo family has run this stable central African nation for 52 years.
A coup attempt failed in Gabon, following President Ali Bongo’s extended illness and absence.
EPA/Stringer
National electoral commissions are crucial in shaping public perceptions of how well democracy is working. Poor electoral management can enable fraud and produce political alienation.
The remains of a burned car outside Gabon’s National Assembly. It was set alight during unrest after the disputed reelection of President Ali Bongo.
Reuters/Edward McAllister
Ali Bongo seems to have won Gabon’s elections. Yet his contested “victory” has radically changed the political field in this soft democracy, one of Africa’s richest and most stable.
Protesters in Paris against Gabonese President Ali Bongo with placards reading: 1967-2016, 50 years in power is enough!
AAP