Gabon
Almost all Gabonese are of Bantu origin. Gabon has at least 40
ethnic groups, with separate languages and cultures. The largest is
the Fang (about 30%). Other ethnic groups include the Myene,
Bandjabi, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke/Obamba, Nzebi, and Bakota. Ethnic
group boundaries are less sharply drawn in Gabon than elsewhere in
Africa. French, the official language, is a unifying force. More
than 12,000 French people live in Gabon, including an estimated
2,000 dual nationals, and France dominates foreign cultural and
commercial influences. Historical and environmental factors caused
Gabon's population to decline between 1900 and 1940. It is one of
the least densely inhabited countries in Africa, and a labor
shortage is a major obstacle to development and a draw for foreign
workers. The population is generally accepted to be just over 1
million but remains in dispute. |
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During the last seven centuries, Bantu ethnic groups arrived in the
area from several directions to escape enemies or find new land.
Little is known of tribal life before European contact, but tribal
art suggests rich cultural heritages. Gabon's first European
visitors were Portuguese traders who arrived in the 15th century and
named the country after the Portuguese word "gabao," a coat with
sleeve and hood resembling the shape of the Komo River estuary. The
coast became a center of the slave trade. Dutch, British, and French
traders came in the 16th century. France assumed the status of
protector by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839
and 1841. American missionaries from New England established a
mission at Baraka (now Libreville) in 1842. In 1849, the French
captured a slave ship and released the passengers at the mouth of
the Komo River. The slaves named their settlement Libreville--"free
town." An American, Paul du Chaillu, was among the first foreigners
to explore the interior of the country in the 1850s. French
explorers penetrated Gabon's dense jungles between 1862 and 1887.
The most famous, Savorgnan de Brazza, used Gabonese bearers and
guides in his search for the headwaters of the Congo River. France
occupied Gabon in 1885 but did not administer it until 1903. In
1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial
Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. The territories
became independent in 1960 as the Central African Republic, Chad,
Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon.
At the time of Gabon's independence in 1960, two principal political
parties existed: the Bloc Democratique Gabonais (BDG), led by Leon
M'Ba, and the Union Democratique et Sociale Gabonaise (UDSG), led by
J.H. Aubame. In the first post-independence election, held under a
parliamentary system, neither party was able to win a majority. The
BDG obtained support from three of the four independent legislative
deputies, and M'Ba was named Prime Minister. Soon after concluding
that Gabon had an insufficient number of people for a two-party
system, the two party leaders agreed on a single list of candidates.
In the February 1961 election, held under the new presidential
system, M'Ba became President and Aubame became Foreign Minister.
This one-party system appeared to work until February 1963, when the
larger BDG element forced the UDSG members to choose between a
merger of the parties or resignation. The UDSG cabinet ministers
resigned, and M'Ba called an election for February 1964 and a
reduced number of National Assembly deputies (from 67 to 47). The
UDSG failed to muster a list of candidates able to meet the
requirements of the electoral decrees. When the BDG appeared likely
to win the election by default, the Gabonese military toppled M'Ba
in a bloodless coup on February 18, 1964. French troops
re-established his government the next day. Elections were held in
April 1964 with many opposition participants. BDG-supported
candidates won 31 seats and the opposition 16. Late in 1966, the
constitution was revised to provide for automatic succession of the
vice president should the president die in office. In March 1967,
Leon M'Ba and Omar Bongo (then Albert Bongo) were elected President
and Vice President. M'Ba died later that year, and Omar Bongo became
President.
In March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving
the BDG and establishing a new party--the Parti Democratique
Gabonais (PDG). He invited all Gabonese, regardless of previous
political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President
in February 1975; in April 1975, the office of vice president was
abolished and replaced by the office of prime minister, who had no
right to automatic succession. Bongo was re-elected President in
December 1979 and November 1986 to 7-year terms. Using the PDG as a
tool to submerge the regional and tribal rivalries that divided
Gabonese politics in the past, Bongo sought to forge a single
national movement in support of the government's development
policies.
Economic discontent and a desire for political liberalization
provoked violent demonstrations and strikes by students and workers
in early 1990. In response to grievances by workers, Bongo
negotiated with them on a sector-by-sector basis, making significant
wage concessions. In addition, he promised to open up the PDG and to
organize a national political conference in March-April 1990 to
discuss Gabon's future political system. The PDG and 74 political
organizations attended the conference. Participants essentially
divided into two loose coalitions, the ruling PDG and its allies,
and the United Front of Opposition Associations and Parties,
consisting of the breakaway Morena Fundamental and the Gabonese
Progress Party.
The April 1990 conference approved sweeping political reforms,
including creation of a national Senate, decentralization of the
budgetary process, freedom of assembly and press, and cancellation
of the exit visa requirement. In an attempt to guide the political
system's transformation to multiparty democracy, Bongo resigned as
PDG chairman and created a transitional government headed by a new
Prime Minister, Casimir Oye-Mba. The Gabonese Social Democratic
Grouping (RSDG), as the resulting government was called, was smaller
than the previous government and included representatives from
several opposition parties in its cabinet. The RSDG drafted a
provisional constitution in May 1990 that provided a basic bill of
rights and an independent judiciary but retained strong executive
powers for the president. After further review by a constitutional
committee and the National Assembly, this document came into force
in March 1991. Under the 1991 constitution, in the event of the
president's death, the prime minister, the National Assembly
president, and the defense minister were to share power until a new
election could be held.
Opposition to the PDG continued, however, and in September 1990, two
coup d'etat attempts were uncovered and aborted. Despite
anti-government demonstrations after the untimely death of an
opposition leader, the first multiparty National Assembly elections
in almost 30 years took place in September-October 1990, with the
PDG garnering a large majority.
Following President Bongo's re-election in December 1993 with 51% of
the vote, opposition candidates refused to validate the election
results. Serious civil disturbances led to an agreement between the
government and opposition factions to work toward a political
settlement. These talks led to the Paris Accords in November 1994,
under which several opposition figures were included in a government
of national unity. This arrangement soon broke down, however, and
the 1996 and 1997 legislative and municipal elections provided the
background for renewed partisan politics. The PDG won a landslide
victory in the legislative election, but several major cities,
including Libreville, elected opposition mayors during the 1997
local election.
Facing a divided opposition, President Bongo coasted to easy
re-election in December 1998, with large majorities of the vote.
While Bongo's major opponents rejected the outcome as fraudulent,
some international observers characterized the results as
representative despite any perceived irregularities, and there were
none of the civil disturbances that followed the 1993 election.
Peaceful though flawed legislative elections held in 2001-02, which
were boycotted by a number of smaller opposition parties and were
widely criticized for their administrative weaknesses, produced a
National Assembly almost completely dominated by the PDG and allied
independents. In November 2005, President Bongo was elected for his
sixth term. He won re-election easily, but opponents claim that the
balloting process was marred by irregularities. There were some
instances of violence following the announcement of Bongo's win, but
Gabon generally remained peaceful.
National Assembly elections were held again in December 2006.
Several seats contested because of voting irregularities were
overturned by the Constitutional Court, but the subsequent run-off
elections in early 2007 again yielded a PDG-controlled National
Assembly. |
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