Growing calls for Gabon's transitional leader to stand in presidential poll

Eleven months after he came to power in a coup, there are growing calls for Gabon’s transitional President Brice Oligui Nguema to run for office.

He was sworn in in September last year, less than a month after ousting President Ali Bongo whose family had ruled the country for more than five decades.

Radio France International is reporting that on Saturday the deputy prime minister, Alexandre Barro Chambrier, said he would not be a candidate.

He said he and his Rally for the Homeland and Modernity (RPM) party would support the president if he stood in the presidential elections scheduled for August 2025.

The transition charter governing Gabon authorises Oligui Nguema to stand as a candidate but not the other leaders.

But while the president’s actions on the ground suggests he intends standing, has not yet declared himself a candidate.