The people of Gabon are expected to vote on the country’s new draft constitution on 16 November 2026. The new text proposes a change from a semi-presidential to a fully presidential system, with a limit of two terms of seven years each, the abolition of the post of prime minister and the recognition of French as a working language. This has sparked controversy in the central African country, with the interim president of Dynamique unitaire (DU), Roger Ondo Abessolo, calling on the Gabonese people to vote against the draft constitution, citing concerns about the lack of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
On November 16, 2024, the people of Gabon will vote on the country’s new draft constitution. The new text stipulates a change from a semi-presidential to a fully presidential system, with a limit of two terms of seven years each, the abolition of the post of prime minister and the recognition of French as a working language. The proposed changes have sparked controversy in the county, with some groups, such as the trade union coalition Dynamique Unitaire (DU), calling for the rejection of the constitution, citing concerns about the lack of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
Everything that is going wrong during this transition, I assure you, if you look at it, is due to the PDG’s entrenchment in the country’s decision-making bodies. The president is a human being, we have to counterbalance that, we have to understand that.
Roger Ondo Abessolo, Interim president of the Dynamique unitaire
According to Dynamique unitaire, the principle of the separation of powers lies in the fact that the executive and the judiciary each play their role in a state governed by the rule of law. In the opinion of the union leaders, this subordination of the legislature and the judiciary to the executive is at the root of the degrading human rights practices under the regimes that preceded the transition.
The unhealthy subservience of the judiciary to the executive since Leèomba, accentuated under Ali Bongo Ondimba’s reign and characterised by systematic violations of human rights, has made us, the Dynamique Unitaire, pay a high price, such as the successive arrests of several of our members, kidnappings and attempts to cut our salaries, travel bans, demonstrations or meetings in public places, even in our headquarters, where we were forbidden to meet. This shows that the independence of the judiciary remains one of our main struggles, which we believe we will win with the advent of the CTRI.
Roger Ondo Abessolo, Interim president of the Dynamique unitaire
The adoption of the fundamental law, planned following the referendum on 16 November 2024, will pave the way for democratic elections in August 2025 to end the transition period. According to some opponents, the new Constitution concentrates most of the powers in the hands of the President, which leaves doubts about the political future of the country.
