GABON: ELECTION MISCELLANY II

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000389

SIPDIS

AF/C FOR LISA KORTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GB
SUBJECT: GABON: ELECTION MISCELLANY II

REF: 09 LIBREVILLE 00368

Classified By: Ambassador Eunice Rediick for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The jockeying for position and desire for votes by the
candidates of the Gabonese presidency has steadily risen in
intensity. Bruno Ben Moubamba, an independent candidate, is
in the sixth day of a hunger strike to protest irregularities
regarding the Constitutional Court and electoral lists.
Ominously, Andre Mba Obame, also an independent, has begun to
experiment with anti-Muslim rhetoric in his campaign
speeches. The PDG, in an effort to close ranks, formally
ejected former members now running as independent candidates
as well as dismissed current members for insufficient support
of the PDG's candidate, Ali Bongo Ondimba. END SUMMARY.

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BRUNO BEN ON A HUNGER STRIKE
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2. (U) Bruno Ben Moubamba, one of the 23 candidates for the
Presidency, began a hunger strike on August 15 in front of
the National Assembly. Moubamba is protesting alleged
illegalities surrounding the upcoming election )
specifically that the revision of the electoral list was
performed too quickly to be reliable, and the President of
the Constitutional Court Madeleine Mborantsuo violated
article 89 of the constitution by not stepping down when her
7 year term expired in the last two months. Moubamba is
demanding that the Constitutional Court reopen the
inscriptions of the electoral list and remove Mborantsuo from
the Constitutional Court. Moubamba chose the front of the
National Assembly for his hunger strike in order to gain
attention from the local and international press. Moubamba
is visibly weakened from his hunger strike, though he has
consumed water and sugar in order to grant interviews.

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MBA OBAME BEGINS ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC
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3. (C) During a meeting in the Okala neighborhood of
Libreville on August 15 presidential candidate Andre Mba
Obame asked Muslims in Gabon to "abstain" from voting in the
upcoming election. In response, the gathered crowd then
began chanting slogans that included "burn down the mosques."
The High Islamic Council of Gabon issued a televised
statement denouncing the comments by Mba Obame and the
crowd's reaction and asked Mba Obame to review his platform
to try to avoid creating religious tensions. On August 20,
during a televised presidential debate, Mba Obame repeatedly
avoided the topic of religion and his previous statements
about Muslims, but also refused to retract the statements.
Besides trying to create and then capitalize on religious
tensions, Mba Obame's statements regarding Muslims are trying
to draw a connection to Gabonese fears that resident aliens
will be able to illegally vote and skew the results. The
Muslim community in Gabon is composed largely of non-Gabonese
(especially West Africans) who now reside here.

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PDG CLOSES RANKS
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4. (U) Throughout the week of August 19 the ruling Gabonese
Democratic Party (PDG) dismissed several important members of
the party because of insufficient loyalty to the PDG's
candidate Ali Bongo Ondimba. Current independent candidates
that were former PDG members like Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Andre
Mba Obame and Casimir Oye Mba were officially ejected from
the PDG's rosters. The PDG also dismissed a number of
less-prominent members of the party who had connections to or
were openly supporting candidates other than Ali Bongo. The
PDG claims the demissions were due to the "non-respect" of
the rules of the party.

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COMMENT
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5. (C) The use of anti-Muslim rhetoric by Andre Mba Obame is
a disturbing development in a campaign that, thus far, has
lacked any meaningful religious or ethnic tensions. Gabon is
largely Christian and Mba Obame,s tactic for enflaming
religious fault-lines has not taken hold. It does suggest
that Mba Obame realizes his push for the presidency is

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weakening and has begun to search for other ways to gather
supporters for his candidacy. The PDG's demission of the
non-supporters of Ali Bongo was expected. In fact, we are a
little surprised it took the party this long to formally
eject the independent candidates and their supporters.
Moubamba, who is a marginal candidate at best, is gaining
reasonable coverage in the media for his hunger strike though
it is unlikely it will lead to a boost to his candidacy or a
delay in the election. We are seeking further information
about Mborantsuo,s term of office, but do not believe that
there will be any serious challenge to her seat at the head
of the key institution that may be called upon to decide
Gabon's future president. END COMMENT.
REDDICK