Gabon parliament meets to draw up new constitution

Lawmakers in Gabon met on Thursday to begin discussing a proposed new constitution, the first stage towards a return to civilian government, which the ruling military junta promised following a 2023 coup.

The coup put an end to 55 years of rule by the family of former president Ali Bongo Ondimba and a new constitution would include abolishing the post of prime minister and a seven-year presidential term, renewable once.

Candidates for head of state would have to be the offspring of Gabonese-born parents according to a version of the proposed document seen circulating online — a claim authorities in the oil-rich country have not denied.

The proposed text is also notably believed to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman and would also make military service compulsory, while confirming French as the country’s official language.

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A presidential decree published on Wednesday proposed for lawmakers to meet from Thursday to September 22 to work through the text.

The decree gives them that 10-day period in which to form a “reasoned opinion” on a final text, drafted from a thousand proposals collected during a national dialogue organized in April.

The process is part of a two-year transition timetable presented by the country’s new strongman General Brice Oligui Nguema, who has made it clear he intends to stand in and win a presidential election set for August 2025.

On August 30, 2023, an hour after the official announcement of Bongo’s election to a third term since 2009, a military junta called the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions” (CTRI) proclaimed his rule was over, denouncing what they said was a rigged poll.

The military then dissolved the country’s institutions and appointed 98 deputies and 70 senators to a transitional parliament.

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During the debates on the new constitution, they will seek to draft amendments that will be recorded in a report for examination by the CTRI and the government prior to cabinet adoption.

A referendum on the constitution is due to take place before the end of the year.