By Xie Meihua
LIBREVILLE, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Gabonese will go
to polls on Sunday to elect a new president to succeed late president Omar Bongo
Ondimba who died of illness on June 8 this year. The forthcoming president
election is widely seen here as the most important one as it will witness the
first power transfer in the country in 40 years.
Omar Bongo, who served over 41 years as president of
the small west-central African country, passed away after months of receiving
treatment in a clinic in Spain.
In accordance with the Constitution of Gabon, a
presidential election must be arranged within 30 to 45 days after the death of
Omar Bongo.
The interim government led by Rose Francine Rogombe
proposed to the Constitutional court that the presidential election be delayed
beyond the 30 to 45 days deadline due to the pressing time.
On July 15, the Autonomous and Permanent National
Electoral Commission (CEANP) proposed to the interim government that the
election be held on Aug. 30.
CEANP announced on Aug. 15 that a total of 23
candidates will compete in the Aug. 30 presidential election for the country's
top job.
The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) on July 19
formally announced that Ali Bongo Odimba, the son of late president Omar Bongo
and then defense minister of the country, will stand as its candidate in the
race.
Ali Bongo Ondimba was born on Feb. 9, 1959 in
Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo.
After obtaining a law degree in France, Ali Bongo
Ondimba came back to Gabon and made debut in the political circle by joining PDG
in 1981.
After serving various posts in the government, he was
named as minister of national defense on Jan. 25, 1999. He was promoted to the
rank of minister of state in January 2006 while still keeping the job of
minister of national defense. In September, 2008, Ali Bongo Ondimba was
reelected as a vice president of PDG.
Ali Bongo Ondimba was dismissed as minister of
national defense by interim president Rose Francine Rogombe so as to contest in
the presidential election on an equal footing with other candidates.
Accepting the nomination by the ruling party, he
underlined the national unity by vowing that if elected, he would spare no
efforts in fighting corruption and redistribute the proceeds of economic growth.
Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Gabon's former prime minister,
will stand as an independent candidate in the race.
Born on Feb. 12, 1946, Ndong is a nephew of Gabon's
first president Leon M'ba.
He served as administrative director of the National
Social Security Fund from 1984 to 1990, and deputy director-general of the same
fund from 1990 to 1991. Ndong took the post of the deputy director-general of
the National Social Guarantee Fund from 1991 to 1996.
In the parliamentary election held in December 1996,
Ndong secured a seat in the National Assembly of Gabon.
Ndong was promoted to the rank of secretary of state
under the minister of Finance in 1997.
He served as the prime minister of Gabon from January
2006 to July 2009. He was also the first vice president of the ruling Gabonese
Democratic Party (PDG) until 2009.
Ndong resigned from the post of prime minister on
July 17, 2009after he failed to win a nomination from the ruling party.
Zacharie Myboto will compete as a candidate of the
opposition Gabonese Union for Democracy and Development (UGDD) in the race.
Myboto served in the Gabonese government from 1972 to
1990. He later resigned from the government and became a opposition leader,
founding UGDD in 2005.
In the September 1990 parliamentary election, he was
elected to the National Assembly.
Myboto participated in the 2005 presidential election
and was placed in the third place.
Myboto has been advocating the reform of the
electoral process in the country.
Ali Bongo Ondimba is widely seen here as a favorite
to win the presidential election.
The campaign for the presidential election was
formally kicked off on Aug. 15. Ali Bongo's campaign has focused on his platform
of peace, development and equality.
"We are going to jealously guard the peace which was
left behind by late president Omar Bongo Ondimba while stressing on durable
development and the equitable distribution of resources to all the people," he
said to the local population in the western province of Estuaire during last
weekend.
Ali Bongo also announced to reform the education
system and improve the professional training while taking into account the state
potential and the market needs if he is elected.
"Our duty will be to create jobs all over," he said
while promising to never interfere with the work of the two parliamentary
chambers, the senate and the national assembly, in which his party has the
majority representation.
During the campaign at Owendo, Ali Bongo pledged to
improve and develop the local port, saying "The port is our gateway to the
foreign lands. There is no big economic development without big ports."
Ali Bongo was quoted by local media as saying on July
23 that if elected, he would not seek to remain in power forever.
"If the Gabonese place the trust in me and elect me
to the head of state, I certainly will not stay 40 years, rest
assured."
Backgrounder: Gabonese
Republic
Backgrounder: Key dates in Gabon after
independence
