Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LIBREVILLE388
2009-08-19 16:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

GABON: PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN FULL SWING; ALI

Tags:  PGOV PREL GB 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6415
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLC #0388/01 2311607
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191607Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1372
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000388 

SIPDIS

AF/C FR LISA KORTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL GB
SUBJECT: GABON: PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN FULL SWING; ALI
BONGO RELINQUISHES DEFENSE PORTFOLIO

Classified By: Political Officer Christopher Gunning for reasons 1.4 (b
) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000388

SIPDIS

AF/C FR LISA KORTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL GB
SUBJECT: GABON: PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN FULL SWING; ALI
BONGO RELINQUISHES DEFENSE PORTFOLIO

Classified By: Political Officer Christopher Gunning for reasons 1.4 (b
) and (d)


1. (C) Gabon's two week presidential campaign period
officially started August 15 with launch rallies held by
most, if not all, 23 candidates in Libreville. Also on the
eve of the campaign Bongo stepped down as Defense Minister.
Quickly establishing himself as the spending forerunner,
ruling PDG candidate Ali Bongo Ondimba,s billboards went up
overnight on August 14 and his rally which focused on the
younger generation he represents attracted several thousand.
According to Foreign Minister and Ali Bongo campaigner Paul
Tongui, Bongo faces the most difficult political challenge in
three of Gabon,s nine provinces. In her national day and
campaign speeches, Interim President Rose Rogombe exhorted
Gabonese to avoid "artificial tensions" and to exercise their
democratic rights and duties without violence. After a
delay, the Ministry of the Interior declared on August 18
that 813,164 Gabonese are registered to vote in the upcoming
election. END SUMMARY.

--------------
CANDIDATES RUNNING AT THE START OF THE GUN
--------------


2. (U) Within hours overnight, hundreds of campaign
billboards went up around Libreville and other major cities.
Most proclaimed the campaign slogans of ruling Democratic
Party of Gabon (PDG) candidate Ali Bongo Ondimba. It was
difficult to move around Libreville on August 15 without
running into a campaign event. Some candidates chose to
launch their campaigns in working class quarters among
supporters. Bongo,s posters were less prevalent in the more
populist quarters of Charbonage and Nzeng-Ayong where posters
for Maganga Moussavou, Zacharie Myboto and Andre Mba Obame
were more common. Within two miles of the main street in
Libreville, the Bord de Mer, there were three rallies for
high-profile candidates Andre Mba Obame, Zacharie Myboto, and
Ali Bongo.


3. (U) Bongo's event was, by far, the largest and glitziest,
with several thousand supporters around a temporary stage in
an open lot. The speakers and performers represented all
ages, including young Gabonese rappers and pop music stars,
and old-guard politicians such as former ministers and PDG

barons Jean Boniface Assele and Marcel-Eloi
Chambrier-Rahandi. Popular Minister for Women,s Affairs
Angelique Ngoma warmed up the crowd that favored women and
youth. Taking the stage amid waving "ABO" caps, Bongo rapped
a few lines from songs dedicated to him before making a
speech that amplified the campaign slogan of "acting
together."


4. (U) Besides covering Bongo's campaign launch, the
government newspaper l'Union, in its August 17 edition,
featured articles on several of the weekend's political
gatherings, including rallies for Casamir Oye Mba (also
drawing supporters in the thousands) and Zacharie Myboto.

-------------- --------------
BONGO RESIGNS; 813,000 VOTERS ON THE ELECTORAL LIST
-------------- --------------


5. (U) ON August 14, Ali Bongo stepped down from his cabinet
position as Minister of Defense. By doing so, he removed a
key talking point from the campaign agenda of his opponents.
The defense portfolio is now in the hands of Bongo ally and
Minister of the Interior Jean-Francois Ndongou. Minister
Ndongou, in cooperation with the electoral commission (la
Commission Electorale Nationale Autonome et Permanante)
revealed on August 18 that as a result of the revisions to
the electoral list, there were over 100,000 new voters added
) for a total of 813,164.

--------------
FOREIGN MINITER TONGUI ON BONGO AND OTHERS
--------------


6. (C) At a national day ceremony Foreign Minister Paul
Tongui told the Ambassador that Bongo and his campaign team
were surprised by the turnout for the rally. They had
underestimated the demand for free t-shirts and he had given
away his own shirt and cap to a young supporter. Asked if he
expected such crowds throughout the campaign, Tongui
responded that Bongo faced a tough campaign in several
provinces. Port Gentil, Gabon's commercial center, in
Ogooue-Maritime; Ogooue-Ivindo province; and Woleu-Ntem
province (bordering both Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon) will
all be difficult, Tongui commented, but Bongo intends to

LIBREVILLE 00000388 002 OF 002


campaign in all nine provinces.


7. (C) Asked whether he thought there would be 23 candidates
by the end of the campaign, Tongui replied that the formation
of alliances or other tactics would not make a difference for
Bongo's campaign. Regarding the possibility of a
rapprochement between Bongo and former PDG
leaders-turned-independent candidates Oye Mba, Mba Obame, and
former prime minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Tongui said that
Bongo had tried to "work things out" with his former
political allies but nothing could be done at this point. He
added that the relationship with Mba Obame had been
deteriorating for about two years.

-------------- --------------
FORTY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF GABON'S INDEPENDENCE COINCIDES
WITH CAMAPIGN WEEKEND
-------------- --------------


8. (U) Gabon's 49th independence celebration coincided with
the start of the electoral campaign. Interim President Rose
Francine Rogombe's speeches for the two major political
events highlighted the legacy of democracy, peace, and unity
left by the last President Omar Bongo, but also warned the
Gabonese of the danger of "artificial tensions" that threaten
this legacy during the transition to a new president.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) Based on Gabon's previous election campaigns, we
expect government activity at the leadership level will be
drastically reduced as the election takes center stage. Ali
Bongo has the advantage of the largest campaign chest and the
nationwide PDG membership for campaign workers. Nonetheless,
FM Tongui's concern about Bongo,s weak support in several
regions is justified. Port Gentil has a PDG mayor but
opposition politicians and supporters are strong there.
Although Tongui did not elaborate, Woleu-Ntem poses a
particular problem for Bongo (a minority Teke) because the
province,s ethnic majority is Fang and voters may be drawn
to a Fang Candidate (almost one half of the 23 candidates
are Fang, including Eyeghe Ndong, Mba Obame, Oye Mba or Mba
Abessole). Interim President Rogome's thinly veiled allusion
to ethnicity as one of the dangers of "artificial tensions"
will likely be echoed in upcoming campaign stops. However,
ethnicity will remain an issue as candidates seek to
strengthen their support in the less than two weeks that
remain before the August 30 vote. END COMMENT.
REDDICK