Raymond Ndong Sima, Gabon’s interim Prime Minister, in Libreville on September 10. – /AFP
A two-year delay before the free elections promised in Gabon by the soldiers who toppled President Ali Bongo was a “reasonable goal,” the interim prime minister told Agence France-Presse on Sunday, September 10. On August 30, the army overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled for fourteen years, just moments after he was declared re-elected in an election deemed fraudulent by the military and opposition. General Brice Oligui Nguema, who was appointed President of the Transition, immediately promised to return power to the civilian population through elections at the end of a period the length of which he did not disclose.
“It’s good to start with a reasonable goal and say: we want the process to be completed in twenty-four months so that we can return to the elections,” said Raymond Ndong Sima, a civilian who transitioned from military to military on Thursday Prime Minister was appointed, adding that this period could be “slightly higher or lower”. Mr. Ndong Sima, 68, was appointed head of the interim government by General Oligui Nguema. He was previously one of the opposition tenors to Mr Bongo.
The coup of August 30 took place in a few moments and without bloodshed, all the commanders of the army and police had gathered behind General Oligui. Backed by a very large majority of the population and the opposition, the coup plotter soldiers say they acted after a disputed election to “save lives” and put an end to “bad governance” and its “corruption.” They accuse the bongo Clan.
“Impartial referees”
On Saturday, Mr Ndong Sima announced the composition of his government appointed by General Oligui, which includes former ministers of the ousted president, members of the former opposition and civil society figures previously hostile to Mr Bongo and his family, who ruled the country country for more than fifty-five years.
The interim charter, introduced by the military, bans members of the provisional government from standing as candidates in the next elections, including Mr Ndong Sima, but does not specifically rule out General Oligui running for president. The latter also promised a new constitution to be adopted by referendum and a new electoral law with the participation of “all living forces of the nation”.
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“The principle proclaimed by the military is that there is no longer any opposition or majority, so we are taking in people from all political families,” commented the Prime Minister. “The people who (…) prepare various texts will discuss that aspect of things, which is duration [de la transition] and who really has the right to appear and not to appear,” explained Mr. Ndong Sima. “It would not be good if the military came forward to be impartial and objective arbiters of the election,” he said.
The question of the autonomy and scope of action of the civilian government arises to the extent that General Oligui Nguema has appointed officers responsible for most of these tasks both for the presidency of the transition and within the military committee that forms his closest team are sectors like Mr. Ndong Sima’s ministers. “It is not new to have department heads alongside the President to ensure the interface between the President and ministerial departments,” Mr Ndong Sima clarified.
“Will I have my hands free? I can’t know at the moment, it will depend on what the military wants to achieve,” he said, adding that “they (…) will bear the brunt of what we will do. TO DO”.