LIBREVILLE: Gabon began voting Saturday in the second round of legislative elections with the party of President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the country for nearly 50 years, coasting towards victory. Bongo’s Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) has already won 74 of the 83 seats up for grabs in the first round of the long-delayed parliamentary election, which is being boycotted by veteran politician Jean Ping. Ping, a former stalwart of Bongo’s father Omar’s regime, proclaimed himself president after a controversial 2016 election which saw Bongo re-elected by just a few thousand votes. Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed in 2016 according to the opposition, but the government says only four died. Ping’s headquarters were also bombed. On Saturday, polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) for the remaining 59 seats of the 143-member legislature. Polling has been deferred in the northern constituency of Ellelem and the election commission has not given a date yet. The fractured opposition only took four seats in the first round. Two seats were won by independent candidates and three by small parties or groups affiliated to the ruling party. The October 6 first round also included municipal polls. </s> People in Gabon are voting in long-delayed legislative and municipal polls, the first to be held since a presidential election two years ago marred by deadly violence and fraud allegations.

Most polling stations in the capital Libreville opened at 8:00am local time (07:00 GMT) under grey skies and light rain on Saturday.

Posters around Libreville were seen asking the country's 680,000 voters to turn up to elect 143 new MPs, as well as other local officials.

A divided opposition is unlikely to mount a successful challenge to President Ali Bongo's ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), opinion polls suggest. His key rival, Jean Ping, is boycotting the election, but most other opposition groups entered the contest in the oil-rich West African country.

Stanislas Bidoubi, 53-year-old shopkeeper, told the AFP news agency that he was backing an opposition party.

"I want change in my country," said Bidoubi.

Turnout in Gabon elections is usually low, but early queues pointed to lively voter interest, at least in the centre of the capital.

"I've never missed an election," said Rainatou Wagne.

"Even if there's cheating in every African election, as a Gabonese citizen I prefer to vote," she added.

The Bongo family has ruled Gabon for close to half a century and his controversial re-election in August 2016 by just a few thousand votes led Ping to claim that victory had been stolen from him.

Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed, according to the opposition, but the government says only four died.

Ping's headquarters was bombed and the opposition also claimed that widespread human rights abuses were committed by armed men who took to the streets.

Before Saturday's election that has been pushed back three times since 2016, the campaign was low key.

But on Saturday, some opposition candidates were pointing to alleged irregularities, saying that voting papers had gone missing, there had been attempts to buy votes, and their representatives had been denied access.

Political divisions run deep in the equatorial African nation, ruled by Omar Bongo from 1967 until his death in 2009, when his son Ali took over.

"I am not sure that this election will ease tensions because, since 2016, the country has been torn by a crisis that has divided families and changed the political scenario," Wilson Andre Ndombet, a political analyst, said. </s> A voter places his papers in a container at a polling station in Libreville. (AFP)

Gabon began voting Saturday in the second round of legislative elections with the party of President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the country for nearly 50 years, coasting towards victory.

Bongo's Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) has already won 74 of the 83 seats up for grabs in the first round of the long-delayed parliamentary election, which is being boycotted by veteran politician Jean Ping.

Ping, a former stalwart of Bongo's father Omar's regime, proclaimed himself president after a controversial 2016 election which saw Bongo re-elected by just a few thousand votes.

Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed in 2016 according to the opposition, but the government says only four died. Ping's headquarters were also bombed.

On Saturday, polling stations opened at 08:00 for the remaining 59 seats of the 143-member legislature. Polling has been deferred in the northern constituency of Ellelem and the election commission has not given a date yet.

The fractured opposition only took four seats in the first round. Two seats were won by independent candidates and three by small parties or groups affiliated to the ruling party.

The October 6 first round also included municipal polls.

African Union observers had described the running of the election as "satisfactory" and without irregularities, but several civil society organisations complained that there had been attempts to buy votes. </s> Gabon votes for first time since violence-marred 2016 election

LIBREVILLE: Oil-rich Gabon, ruled by the same political dynasty for nearly half a century, started voting Saturday in long-delayed legislative and municipal polls, the first since a presidential election two years ago that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud.

A divided opposition is unlikely to mount a successful challenge to President Ali Bongo’s ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), polls suggest. His key rival, Jean Ping, is boycotting the election, but most other opposition groups entered the contest.

Most polling stations in the capital Libreville opened at 8.00 am (0700 GMT) under grey skies and light rain.

An early voter, 53-year old shopkeeper Stanislas Bidoubi, told AFP he was backing an opposition party. “I want change in my country,” he said.

Posters dotted Libreville asking the country’s 680,000 voters to turn up to elect 143 new MPs as well as other local officials. Turnout in Gabon elections is usually low, but early queues pointed to lively voter interest, at least in the centre of the capital.

“I’ve never missed an election,” said 52-year-old Rainatou Wagne. “Even if there’s cheating in every African election, as a Gabonese citizen I prefer to vote,” she said.

The controversial re-election of Bongo in August 2016 by just a few thousand votes led Ping to claim that victory had been stolen from him. Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed according to the opposition, but the government says only four died. Ping’s headquarters was bombed and the opposition also claimed that widespread human rights abuses were committed by armed militias that took to the streets.

Ahead of this weekend’s vote, pushed back three times since 2016, the campaign was low key. But on Saturday, some opposition candidates were pointing to alleged irregularities, saying that voting papers had gone missing, there had been attempts to buy votes, and their representatives had been denied access.

Political divisions run deep in the equatorial African nation, ruled by Omar Bongo from 1967 until his death in 2009, when his son Ali took over. And Gabon’s oil-dependent economy has been hit by falling crude prices. </s> Oil-rich Gabon, ruled by the same political dynasty for nearly half a century, started voting Saturday in long-delayed legislative and municipal polls, the first since a presidential election two years ago that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud.

A divided opposition is unlikely to mount a successful challenge to President Ali Bongo's ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), polls suggest.

His key rival, Jean Ping, is boycotting the election, but most other opposition groups entered the contest.

Most polling stations in the capital Libreville opened at 8.00 am (0700 GMT) under grey skies and light rain.

An early voter, 53-year old shopkeeper Stanislas Bidoubi, told AFP he was backing an opposition party.

"I want change in my country," he said.

Posters dotted Libreville asking the country's 680,000 voters to turn up to elect 143 new MPs as well as other local officials.

Turnout in Gabon elections is usually low, but early queues pointed to lively voter interest, at least in the centre of the capital.

"I've never missed an election," said 52-year-old Rainatou Wagne. "Even if there's cheating in every African election, as a Gabonese citizen I prefer to vote," she said.

The controversial re-election of Bongo in August 2016 by just a few thousand votes led Ping to claim that victory had been stolen from him.

Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed according to the opposition, but the government says only four died.

Ping's headquarters was bombed and the opposition also claimed that widespread human rights abuses were committed by armed militias that took to the streets.

Ahead of this weekend's vote, pushed back three times since 2016, the campaign was low key.

But on Saturday, some opposition candidates were pointing to alleged irregularities, saying that voting papers had gone missing, there had been attempts to buy votes, and their representatives had been denied access.

Political divisions run deep in the equatorial African nation, ruled by Omar Bongo from 1967 until his death in 2009, when his son Ali took over.

And Gabon's oil-dependent economy has been hit by falling crude prices.

"I am not sure that this election will ease tensions because since 2016, the country has been torn by a crisis that has divided families and changed the political scenario," said political expert Wilson Andre Ndombet.

The opposition, which rallied around Ping in 2016, is now fractured, easing the way for the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) which, however, is also facing party in-fighting.

Ping, a veteran diplomat who once headed the African Union Commission and has held senior UN posts, was a stalwart in Omar Bongo's government.

"There is no real opposition in Gabon," said Gabin Yalanzele from the ruling PDG ahead of polling day.

A Libreville resident, who identified himself as Steven, said before the vote that the ruling party and the opposition were "buying consciences" with T-shirts and other goodies.

A supporter of a party of an opposition figure who has now entered the government, meanwhile said he was not given money to hand out to people who turned up for election rallies but added: "We simply offer free T-shirts or a meal."

"The party in power certainly has access to some facilities but there are opposition figures who are rich and who just stall the country's progress," said Chadi Moukarim, who is second on the list for a local seat in Libreville.

"The electoral process has always been biased," said Ndombet, adding that "officials manning voting stations were bought" by the ruling party.

The government closed the country's borders on polling day and banned alcohol sales until the end of voting. </s> Libreville – Gabon voted on Saturday in a poll posing the biggest challenge yet to President Ali Bongo, whose family has run the central African nation for half a century.

Bongo, 57, is likely to be returned, seven years after winning his first election following the death of his father Omar, who ruled for 42 years.

Polls closed at 7 p.m., an hour late to allow people were still waiting to vote to do so.

Voting was mostly calm, although witnesses said a few scuffles broke out in one area as tempers flared in long queues to cast ballots.

Results are not expected until Monday or Tuesday, although partial results may start trickling out on Sunday.

Land and sea borders were shut on Saturday until 8 p.m. (1900 GMT).

Bongo faced nine other candidates – compared with 22 in the last poll – but his main rival was veteran diplomat Jean Ping.

“The day of glory has arrived and we are preparing as you can see to celebrate victory,” Ping, 73, said shortly after voting in Martine Oulabou school, in the capital Libreville.

Ping faces an uphill struggle, not least because Gabon’s one-round system means the winner doesn’t need a majority, just more votes than any other candidate.

“I have laid out the change achieved and the change to come in the future. For that reason, I’m confident,” Bongo, wearing a blue suit, said after voting.

Bongo has made saving Gabon’s unique wildlife, including pristine equatorial rainforest and elephants, a priority, but voters complain they have more pressing worries.

Ping, meanwhile, has harnessed discontent over the lack of a significant rise in living standards in the population of just under two million, despite its oil riches.

“The Gabonese are suffering. We are not well paid, our children don’t live in good conditions. That’s why I voted for change,” Marie Ange N’no, 40, a civil servant, said outside a polling station in Libreville.

She declined to say for whom she had voted.

Gabon has just rejoined OPEC after two decades and has a GDP per capita of 10,000 dollars a year, making it one of Africa’s richest countries, yet much of that wealth is concentrated in the hands of the elite.

About a fifth of Gabonese live on less than two dollars a day and nearly a third live below its own national poverty line, according to the latest available data, from 2005.

But Gabon faces a financial squeeze owing to a long-term decline in oil output — which shrunk GDP per capita by nearly a fifth between 1980 and 2014, according to the United Nations Development Programme — and a sharp fall in the price of crude over the past two years. Efforts to diversify into agriculture and tourism have yet to bear much fruit.

Oil wealth has flowed mostly to the elite – for a period Gabon was the world’s top per capita importer of champagne – and has trickled down slightly only via its bloated civil service.

During his father’s rule, Gabon was a pillar of “La Francafrique”, an intricate, shadowy web of diplomacy, commerce and French military might that kept African autocrats in power and gave French companies privileged access to them.

Bongo has tried to shake off this legacy by presenting a modern face with a development programme run by technocrats.

“As (Omar Bongo’s) son, it is difficult to present yourself as something new and technocratic when the whiff of corruption hangs over from the last administration,” said Anthony Goldman, head of West Africa-focused PM Consulting.

The mixed-race son of a wealthy Chinese trader, Ping is a former foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman who was once close to Omar Bongo and even had a relationship with his daughter, Pascaline, fathering two children by her.

That limits how much leverage he can get out of dissatisfaction with the Bongo family.

Ping fell out with “Bongo Junior”, as Gabonese call the president, leaving the ruling party in 2014 to become an outspoken critic.

Opposition campaigners have questioned whether Bongo is really Gabonese or an adopted child from eastern Nigeria, something he denies. </s> President Ali Bongo's ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) has won a legislative election by a landslide in the first round, the presidency said.

"We have observed what looks like a landslide in favour of the [ruling] majority," presidential spokesman Ike Ngouoni said on Sunday, citing results posted publicly at voting stations.

He said the PDG had won 80 of the 143 seats in the national parliament.

Ngouoni said turnout was "relatively weak".

The presidential spokesman said the electoral authority would announce definitive results later Sunday or on Monday.

Some opposition candidates and witnesses who spoke to the AFP news agency at polling stations alleged voting irregularities.

They said voting papers had gone missing, there had been attempts to buy votes, and opposition representatives had been denied access.

Voting took place in the oil-rich West African country on Saturday in a long-delayed legislative and municipal election, the first poll to be held since a presidential election two years ago was marred by deadly violence and fraud allegations.

President Bongo's key rival, Jean Ping, boycotted the election, but most opposition groups took part.

Gabon has been ruled by the same political dynasty for nearly half a century. </s> Libreville — Oil-rich Gabon, ruled by one political dynasty for nearly half a century, votes on Saturday in long-delayed legislative and municipal polls after a presidential election two years ago was marred by fatal violence and allegations of fraud.

After President Ali Bongo was re-elected controversially in August 2016 by just a few thousand votes, opposition leader Jean Ping claimed that victory had been stolen from him. Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed, according to the opposition, but the government says only four died.

Ping’s headquarters was bombed, and the opposition also claimed that widespread human rights abuses were committed by militias that took to the streets. However, ahead of this weekend’s vote, pushed back three times since 2016, the campaign was low key. Posters dotted the capital Libreville, calling on the country’s 680,000 voters to turn up to elect 143 new MPs and other local politicians.

Gabon’s oil-dependent economy has been hit by falling crude prices.

The opposition, which rallied around Ping in 2016, is now fractured, easing the way for the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party. </s> LIBREVILLE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Gabon President Ali Bongo won re-election in a hotly contested weekend election with 49.80 percent of ballots cast, according to final results announced by Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya on Wednesday.

Bongo's chief rival Jean Ping, who had already announced he won the vote, came second with 48.23 percent, Moubelet said, amid turnout of 59.46 percent of the oil producing country's roughly 600,000 voters.

Election commission members from the opposition rejected the result. (Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; writing by Joe Bavier; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Gabonese citizens vote in the second round of the latest legislative election.