The Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) has praised Gabon’s peaceful, calm and orderly April 12 presidential vote, and called for citizens to become more involved in the electoral process.
In its interim statement, the Group advised the government to promote greater civic participation in the electoral process and suggested that this could be achieved by allowing longer periods for raising public awareness on voting and civic engagement (as a constitutional right).
Enhanced civic participation would enable citizens to make informed decisions and engage more effectively in the democratic process, it said.
The COG, led by the former president of Seychelles, Danny Faure, issued its interim assessment at a press conference in Libreville.
Speaking to journalists, he said, “It is the view of the Commonwealth Observer Group that this election appeared largely transparent, was peaceful, and conducted in accordance with the established legislative framework of Gabon, and that citizens were able to freely exercise their franchise.
“We congratulate and commend the people of Gabon for exercising their right to vote and reaffirming their faith in the principles of democracy,”
The statement also commended the improved media landscape in Gabon, with media stakeholders experiencing reduced state interference in editorial content.
However, the Group called for enforcement of equal airtime, and to give all candidates access to traditional media – especially government owned media – in order to maintain a level playing field for all contestants.
Commenting on the vote-counting process, the statement said, “While counting had barely commenced, there were already official projections of voter turnout and participation rates. The Group cautions on the communications of statistics before final verification as this could potentially undermine trust in the process.”
The interim report recommended a post-election analysis and urged the creation of a suitable, locally driven mechanism to evaluate all recommendations made by both citizen and international observer missions – especially as the country prepares to return to the polls for legislative and municipal elections.
Before its departure, the COG will prepare its final report, an independent assessment setting out its full findings on the entire electoral process, with detailed recommendations to further improve Gabon’s electoral process.
The report will then be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and thereafter shared with the Government of Gabon, the Ministry of Interior and other stakeholders, including citizens.
