PARTIAL LEGISLATIVE ELECTION RESULTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000268 SIPDIS SIPDIS PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM GB SUBJECT: PARTIAL LEGISLATIVE ELECTION RESULTS REF: LIBREVILLE 00156 Classified By: Political Officer Leslie Doumbia. Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) On June 10 voters cast their ballots for twenty legislative seats throughout Gabon. Nineteen of these positions were left vacant after the Constitutional Court invalidated various December 17 election results in several districts (reftel). ¶2. (U) Despite several issues with the voter registration process, the President of the National Electoral Commission (CENAP) declared that the partial legislative elections took place without major incident. Other reports also indicate that the elections took place peacefully. ¶3. (C) Estimates released on June 12 show that the majority of the seats (14/20) were re-won by the contested winners of the December elections. Two of the leading opposition parties both lost seats in upsets, while the majority party of the president (PDG) gained seven. Since a majority of the seats were reclaimed by the December victors, the government-controlled press is now downplaying the initial concerns that prompted the Constitutional Court to overturn the results in the first place. ¶5. (C) Comment. Together, these two factors may discourage the practice of challenging voting irregularities in future elections. End Comment. WALKLEY WALKLEY