Gabon flag Gabon: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Gabon

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Ali BONGO Ondimba (since 16 October 2009)

Prime Minister: Alain Claude BILIE-BY-NZE (since 9 January 2023)

Next Election Dates
Presidential: August 2023
Senate: December 2026
National Assembly: 2023
Main Political Parties
Gabon is a multy-party state, though the Gabonese Democratic Party is the one that holds the power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Opposition parties include:
Circle of Liberal Reformers (liberal)
Social Democratic Party (centre-left)
Rally for Gabon (socialist)
Gabonese Progress Party (centre-left)
Executive Power
The legislative power is vested in the president, who is also head of State. The president is elected for a seven-year term and has the power to appoint the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president.
Legislative Power
The legislative power is vested in the Parliament, which has two chambers: the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale), composed of 120 members, of which 111 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 9 members appointed by the president; and the Senate (Sénat), composed of 91 members, elected for a six-year term in single-seat constituencies by local and departmental councillors.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
117/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
7/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: September 2023

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