Gabon’s Ruling Party Wins Majority Seats In Senatorial Election

The party of Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba has won an overwhelming majority in the first round of Saturday’s senatorial elections.

According to the official body in charge of the poll the winning party took 45 of the 52 seats at stake.

Five opposition or independent senators were elected on Saturday and two seats remain to be filled in the second round on 6 February, according to a count by the Gabonese Centre for Elections (CGE).

In addition, the head of state must appoint by decree 15 members of the future Senate, which will have a total of 67 members of parliament.

The Senate passes laws, as does the National Assembly, which is also largely dominated by the CEO, but the lower house has the final say in case of disagreement.

The only unknown to date is who will become president of the Senate. A role that has however lost its aura and importance since a constitutional revision of 29 December last.

Ali Bongo Ondimba, 61, was elected in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had ruled the small central African oil-rich country for almost 42 years. He was re-elected in 2016 but after a close election whose results were extremely contested by the opposition.