Gabonese politics were dominated by the Bongo family between Omar Bongo’s rise in 1967 and Ali Bongo’s fall in 2023. Violent protests erupted after the 2016 presidential election, in which the electoral commission declared Bongo the winner while his opponent and observers from the European Union called for a recount.

The August 2023 presidential election, like those that preceded it, was plagued by fraud. On election day Ali Bongo’s government blocked internet access, imposed a nighttime curfew, and suspended three France-based media outlets. Bongo claimed victory with 64.27 percent of the vote. Shortly thereafter, senior military officers, dubbed the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), announced a coup. The CTRI cited the prevalence of electoral fraud in its justification for the coup.

Oligui, the head of the CTRI, was named Gabon’s transitional president by the senior military officers who led the coup. Oligui has deep ties to the toppled Bongo regime. Reportedly a distant cousin of the former president, Oligui was also the head of his Republican Guard, which ostensibly guaranteed the president’s personal security, and a senior military aide to the late Omar Bongo. At the end of 2023 he held virtually all governmental power. He named the new prime minister, Raymond Ndong Sima, in September, as well as the members of the transitional government. In October, he named the new transitional parliament.

Members of the transitional government are formally barred from competing in the presidential elections that will mark the end of the transition, save, notably, for Oligui, who is widely expected to run.

In November, the transitional government announced that elections would likely happen in August 2025, though this remains “indicative” rather than definitive. These moves have elicited widespread concern that Oligui may not relinquish power.

Elections for Gabon’s National Assembly were held in August 2023, but the results were not released and were quickly canceled by the CTRI. In October Oligui appointed a transitional parliament, which consists of a 98-seat National Assembly and a 70-seat Senate. Of the 98 newly appointed National Assembly deputies, 90 are members of Bongo’s PDG. Opposition parties, civil society groups, and new deputies not affiliated with the PDG criticized the composition of the new parliament.

Gabon’s electoral laws and framework have historically not ensured credible elections. The electoral commission, the Interior Ministry, and the Constitutional Court have all played important roles in managing elections, and all were loyal to Bongo.

At the end of 2023, Oligui’s transitional government had not provided final details about when new elections would occur or how they would be organized. In November 2023, the CTRI released an “indicative” timeline that would see the country holding elections in 2025, but this timeline still had to be confirmed by a national conference planned for 2024.

The PDG has historically dominated the nominally multiparty system. The Bongo government disrupted the activities of opposition parties by denying them permits for public gatherings, arresting participants in their largely peaceful protests, and incarcerating their leaders.

The transitional government released several prominent political prisoners in the wake of the 2023 coup. At the end of 2023, there had been relatively few reports of newly imprisoned political prisoners or the harassment of opposition leaders. One exception occurred in December, when eight labor leaders were detained for three days for protesting the transitional government’s failure to pay a traditional end-of-year bonus.

The PDG monopolized the executive branch between the 1960s and the 2023 coup, and there was not a realistic opportunity for the opposition to gain power through elections. It remains unclear whether the elections held at the conclusion of the transition period will be more competitive.

The Bongo family and its associates acquired enormous wealth after decades in power, which has led to judicial investigations in France. The 2021 release of the Pandora Papers, an investigation that focused on corruption in the global financial system, revealed that the Bongo family used substantial resources to sustain patronage networks and fund vote-buying during elections. The leadership of the Bondo government also relied on security forces to intimidate the opposition.

Ethnic minorities have historically had little ability to gain political representation because of the dominance of the PDG, and this trend has continued after the coup. Key government and military posts are held by loyalists from major ethnic groups. Though homosexuality was decriminalized in 2020, LGBT+ people are not openly represented politically.

Women are also underrepresented, though they made some gains following the coup. Women held 15 percent of parliamentary seats prior to August 2023, and now hold 24 percent of seats in the transitional parliament.

Since the August 2023 coup, government policies have been set entirely by Oligui and his senior aides, with no meaningful input from other segments of society. It is unclear to what extent the new transitional parliament will have a meaningful impact on government policies.

Corruption and impunity remain major problems. Authorities have historically used anticorruption efforts to target regime opponents. A special criminal court for cases involving the theft of public funds was established in 2018, but in the years preceding the coup prosecutions remained selective.

Members of the Bongo family have been accused of corrupt behavior, and those accusations were corroborated by the 2021 Pandora Papers. In 2023, the Oligui transitional government announced that it would file charges of public corruption against Bongo’s wife Sylvia, their son Noureddin, and their senior aides. It remained unclear whether the transitional government would limit its prosecutions to them or include other Bongo collaborators who have also been accused of corruption. In October, the transitional government released some former Bongo political prisoners, including Brice Laccruche Alihanga, who were widely regarded as corrupt.

In October, French prosecutors announced that Pascaline Bongo, former president Ali Bongo’s sister, would be prosecuted for corruption in early 2024.

The government operates with minimal transparency. The presidency’s budget has historically not been subject to the same oversight as those for other institutions. High-level civil servants are required to disclose their assets, but the declarations are not made public. Prior to the coup, the government was not transparent about the health of former president Ali Bongo, who suffered a stroke in 2018. The Oligui government has refused to explain how it appointed deputies to the transitional parliament.

Press freedom is guaranteed by law but has historically been restricted in practice, with reporters self-censoring to avoid legal repercussions. On election day in August 2023, former president Bongo’s government blocked internet access and suspended three media outlets based in France: France 24, Radio France Internationale, and TV5 Monde. Following the coup, Oligui restored internet service, reversed the suspension of the three French outlets, and publicly stated that he wants to work with journalists.

Although religious freedom is constitutionally enshrined and generally respected, some heterodox religious groups reportedly have difficulty obtaining registration from the government.

Omar Bongo University, Gabon’s main center for tertiary education, is state-run, and academic freedom has been tenuous in recent years. Professors have historically self-censored to avoid conflicts with the authorities, and it is unclear whether that will be affected by the 2023 coup.

Ordinary individuals’ freedom to express criticism of the government has long been limited by restrictive laws and deterred by state surveillance. Individuals who criticize the government have routinely been detained or attacked by security forces.

Freedom of assembly is limited. Prior to the coup, the government repeatedly denied permits for meetings and dispersed unauthorized gatherings by using tear gas and arresting demonstrators. A 2017 law further limited the freedom to assemble by making event organizers responsible for offenses committed during a gathering.

Relatively few nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate in Gabon. Freedom of association is guaranteed by the constitution, but the process for formally registering NGOs is onerous and implemented inconsistently, leaving groups vulnerable to accusations that they are not in compliance with the law.

Workers are legally permitted to join unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike. However, in recent years the Bongo government disrupted sit-ins and other labor activism and arrested those who participated in them.

Jean-Rémy Yama, the leader of a civil-service union, was detained by the Gabonese intelligence service and targeted with politically motivated corruption charges in 2022. He was released by the transitional government in early September 2023.

Eight labor leaders were detained for three days in December 2023 for protesting the transitional government’s failure to pay a traditional end-of-year bonus.

Under the Bongo government, courts were subordinate to the president. The judiciary was accountable to the Justice Ministry, through which the president had the power to appoint and dismiss judges. Gabon’s highest judicial body, the Constitutional Court, was composed of three members appointed by the president, two by the National Assembly, one by the Senate, and three by the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM).

Following the coup, the Constitutional Court is now comprised of nine members appointed by Oligui. Among Oligui’s first moves after the coup was to dismiss Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, the longtime head of the Constitutional Court under the Bongo government.

Legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention are not upheld by police, and detainees are often denied access to lawyers. Lengthy pretrial detention is common. Arbitrary arrests linked to opposition activism increased after the 2016 election crisis.

Several detained opposition figures were denied due process under the Bongo government, and prisoners occasionally died in custody. Civil society leaders were routinely denied access to political prisoners. Following the 2023 coup, the transitional government released several prominent political prisoners, and there were relatively few reports of newly imprisoned political prisoners.

Prisons are overcrowded, with limited access to proper medical care. Torture is outlawed by the constitution, but detainees and inmates face physical abuse. Eight labor leaders detained in December 2023 had their heads forcibly shaved while they were in custody.

The country’s large population of African immigrants is subject to harassment and extortion, including by police. Members of some ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority groups experience workplace discrimination and live in extreme poverty.

Women have equal legal rights on some issues but face significant de facto discrimination in employment and other economic matters. Sexual harassment in the workplace, which is not prohibited by law, is common.

While homosexuality was decriminalized in 2020, same-sex marriage remains illegal and LGBT+ individuals still face widespread social stigma, discrimination, and the threat of physical violence.

There are no laws restricting internal travel, but police often monitor travelers at checkpoints and demand bribes. Married women seeking to obtain a passport or travel abroad must have permission from their husbands. Prior to the 2023 coup, the Bongo government imposed travel bans on opposition leaders.

Bureaucratic and judicial delays can pose difficulties for businesses. Enforcement of contracts and property rights has historically been weak, and the process for property registration is lengthy. Bongo and his associates played a dominant role in the economy prior to the 2023 coup, which impaired fair competition and favored those with connections to the country’s leadership.

Personalized forms of violence are believed to be widespread, and perpetrators generally enjoy impunity. Rape and domestic abuse are rarely reported to authorities or prosecuted. Spousal rape is not specifically prohibited. Abortion is a crime under most circumstances. The minimum age for marriage is 15 for women and 18 for men. The civil code states that a wife must obey her husband as the head of household.

In 2021, parliament amended the civil code to increase the legal rights of married women, including by recognizing gender-based violence as legitimate grounds for divorce.

Wage standards and laws against forced labor are poorly enforced, particularly in the informal sector and situations involving foreign workers. Both adults and children are exploited in a number of different occupations, and foreign women are trafficked to Gabon for prostitution or domestic servitude.