By Nurat Uthman
Gabon extended a night curfew Saturday as it held a referendum on a new constitution the ruling junta says will mark a new chapter after 55 years of dynastic rule in the oil-rich African nation.
The estimated 860,000 registered voters have faced an onslaught of calls by authorities on TV, radio and social media to make their ballot count — whether they choose a green one meaning “yes” or a red one for “no”.
With the campaign dominated by official propaganda by the junta that took power in August last year in a coup, local media say voter turnout will be a key factor.
Voting began late at several polling stations in the capital Libreville with papers still being handed out when the polls opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT). The 2,835 polling stations nationwide are due to remain open until 6:00 pm.
The junta on Saturday extended a night curfew by two hours, bringing it forward to midnight “during the whole electoral process”, according to a decree read on state television.
It did not specify until when the extended curfew ending at 5:00 am would remain in place.
The proposed constitution sets out a vision of a presidency with a maximum of two seven-year terms, no prime minister and no dynastic transfer of power.
It would also require presidential candidates to be exclusively Gabonese — with at least one Gabon-born parent — and have a Gabonese spouse.
His replacement, transitional president Brice Oligui Nguema, declared the referendum a “great step forward” as he cast his vote at a Libreville school.
“All Gabonese are coming to vote in a transparent fashion,” the junta chief told the press, having ditched his general’s uniform for a brown civilian jacket over light-wash jeans.
Oligui has vowed to hand power back to civilians after a two-year transition but has made no secret of his desire to win the presidential election scheduled for August 2025.
Billboards adorned with an image of the general and urging a “yes” vote are everywhere, the Union newspaper commented on Friday, prompting it to ask: “Referendum or presidential campaign?”
