Gabon’s President Ali Bongo, who has been in power for several weeks, has chosen Nkok’s Special Investment Zone (ZIS) to announce that he will be seeking a third term as head of Gabon this Sunday, July 09. The presidential election will be held in the country on 26 August 2023.
I am officially announcing today that I am a candidate in the presidential election, he launched in front of a crowd of supporters in a speech, broadcast live on his Facebook page, in the Special Economic Zone (ZES) of Nkok, near the capital Libreville. The 64-year-old Head of State was first elected in 2009 on the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for more than 41 years, and then narrowly re-elected in 2016.
His candidacy will have to be confirmed by a Nomination Convention scheduled for Monday by his all-powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (CEO), which largely dominates Parliament and is a major favourite in the parliamentary and municipal elections that will take place on the same day as the presidential election on 26 August.
Mr. Bongo’s formal nomination by the CEO on Monday will be a formality, with the party begging him for more than a year to run for a third term. Official nominations close on Tuesday.
