HISTORY
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.
