On Saturday, March 12, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba announced a “clear, clear, indisputable” victory for his party, the CEO, in the 2023 presidential election. It was in Libreville, on the occasion of a meeting organized to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (CEO).
Would Ali Bongo have decided to run in the next presidential election in Gabon, scheduled for 2023. That is what many observers thought they understood after his announcement on the 54th anniversary of his political party. This would put an end to several months of speculation after the stroke that the current head of state suffered in October 2018.
According to the President of Gabon, speaking to his fellow CEOs, 2023 is fast approaching. “I will be there with you. For you. The only outcome will be victory. A clear and indisputable victory (…) Personally, I also went through a terrible ordeal. Today I have totally and definitively overcome it».
After a very long convalescence due to a stroke that kept him away from the public scene for many months, then limited his appearances and sometimes painfully stated speeches, Ali Bongo walked without the cane that usually helps him tame the stiffness of his right leg, and then sketched a dance step on the stage of a large capital.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, 63, came to power after an early presidential election in August 2009 following the death in power of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who led Gabon from 1968 to 2009.
So Ali Bongo candidate or not? We’ll soon find out.
