In Gabon, the opening date of the referendum campaign for the new has been set for November 06, 2024. The final version of the draft new Constitution, which was examined by the Council of Ministers on October 17, 2024, was presented on October 21, 2024. Political movements and actors have 10 days to convince the population to vote Yes or No.
In Gabon, the Minister of the Interior and Security, Hermann Immongault, has set the date for the start of the referendum campaign. Order no. 0001826/MIS of October 21, 2024 sets November 6, 2024 as the date for the start of the campaign for the 2024 constitutional referendum. Political movements and actors have 10 days to convince people to vote yes or no.
For a constitution to be valid, it normally has to go through five stages: drafting, adoption, referendum, promulgation by the President of the Republic and publication in the official gazette. After the first stages, i.e. drafting by a group of experts and adoption by parliament, the Gabonese constitution has to go to a referendum to be accepted or rejected by the entire population, which implies a certain inclusiveness in its acceptance.
Kerwin MAYIZO, Political analyst
The draft of the new Constitution was made public in Gabon on 21 October 2024. In this revised version of the text, which was submitted to the President of the transitional government at the end of August, the 173 articles propose to give the country a presidential system with stricter term limits and slightly relaxed eligibility requirements.
Will it now strengthen the institutions? Well, there are a few innovations: Gabon has become a presidential regime with a certain term limit, which is now an intangible 7 years renewable once, and we cannot go back on this, even in the event of a change. For example, the exclusion of the spouses of descendants of a president of the Republic as candidates in presidential elections are measures that can go in the direction of inclusiveness.
Kerwin MAYIZO, Political analyst
Gabon is about to experience a historic turning point with the adoption of a new constitution, a document that is supposed to reshape the foundations of a country in the throes of transition. On October 17, 2024, the Council of Ministers officially adopted the final text of the draft Fundamental Law, which was sent to the government for dissemination. The referendum is scheduled for November 16, less than a month away.
