Gabon: Constitutional Court Validates Adoption of New Constitution
The Constitutional Court of Gabon officially validated the adoption of the new Constitution on Friday. This Constitution was approved by referendum in mid-November, with 91.64% voting in favor, as announced by the court’s president.
The final results, revealed during a solemn session, indicated discrepancies compared to the provisional figures released by the Ministry of the Interior: there were fewer registered voters (853,028 instead of 868,115), a lower turnout (462,166 instead of 463,066), and a reduced number of valid votes (416,382 instead of 454,173). Nevertheless, the voter participation rate saw a slight increase to 54.18%, up from 53.54%.
“After reviewing the various results from all the commissions, the Court proclaims that the referendum held on November 16, 2024, yielded the following overall results: (…) votes for ‘yes’ stood at 91.64%,” stated Dieudonné Aba’a Owono, president of the Constitutional Court.
This figure represents a small decrease from the 91.80% reported by the Ministry of the Interior the day after the referendum.
With the Constitution now adopted, the next step is to revise the electoral code in preparation for the presidential election scheduled for August 2025. Following the vote, transitional president Brice Oligui Nguema described this event as a “historic milestone” in the transition process.
The new fundamental law, consisting of 173 articles, was developed from contributions gathered during a national dialogue held in the spring. It establishes, among other provisions, a renewable seven-year term for the presidency, featuring a strong executive authority without a Prime Minister.
