GABON: OPPOSITION PARTIES UNITE TO FORM THE NATIONAL UNION

UNCLAS LIBREVILLE 000088 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SUBJECT: GABON: OPPOSITION PARTIES UNITE TO FORM THE NATIONAL UNION ¶1. (U) Summary: Defectors from Gabon's ruling Democratic Party (PDG) and other opponents who challenged Ali Bongo Ondimba in the August 2009 election joined forces on February 10 to create a new political party, the National Union (UN). The UN brings together three opposition parties, the Gabonese Union of Democracy and Development (UGDD),the African Development Movement (MAD) and the National Republican Party (RNR). Opposition unity was spearheaded by former Ali Bongo ally and presidential runner-up Andre Mba Obame who was named UN Executive Secretary. Historically, Gabonese opposition parties have found it difficult to organize support and develop political platforms. The new party hopes to overcome individual personalities and ambitions in order to further erode the ruling party's grip on power. End Summary. ¶2. (U) In December 2009, several opposition party leaders and candidates formed a "coalition of political parties for an alternating presidency and to represent the hopes of the Gabonese people." Andre Mba Obame laid groundwork for the new party in a country-wide post-election tour to thank opposition supporters. As the UN's Executive Secretary, Mba Obame, will be working closely with Zacharie Mboto, president of the UGDD and distant third runner-up candidate, who was named UN president. A slew of presidential also-rans helped create the UN, including PDG stalwarts and former prime ministers Casmir Oye Mba and Eyeghe Ndong, RNR president Gerard Ella Nguema, Paris-based Bruno Ben Moubamba, and businessperson Ntoutoume Ngoua. Days before the announcement of the UN's creation, each of the former PDG heavyweights announced their adherence to one of the already established opposition parties, the UGDD, RNR or MAD, to establish that the new unified party was made of parties, not individuals. ¶3. (SBU) The creation of the UN has answered the question on the minds of many Gabonese about the future of the candidates who ran and lost in the 2009 election to succeed the late Omar Bongo Ondimba. Former PDG heavyweight Andre Mba Obame was the most visible of the losing candidates in late 2009, criss-crossing Gabon for private consultations and public meetings to test the waters for a united opposition. The first test of the UN will come in their preparation for legislative elections in 2011. With Mba Obame and Zacharie Mboto among the leadership of the UN, the Fang ethnic group and Haut Ogoue (Bongo's home area) appears to be heavily favored in the new party. However, the former PDGists in the new party represent political and financial strongholds throughout Gabon. ¶4. (U) Not all of Gabon's opposition has thrown its support behind the UN. Pierre Mamboundou, longstanding opponent of former President Omar Bongo, and his Union of the Gabonese People Party (UPG) is notably absent from the new party. Mamboundou ran third in the 2009 presidential election with 25% percent of the vote. The UPG has been the strongest of the opposition parties, with membership heavily concentrated in Port Gentil, Gabon's commercial center and scene of the only protracted violence after the presidential election results were announced. The UPG is the largest opposition party of the Alliance for Reform and Change (ACR) which has not announced an association with the UN. Other ACR leaders include former presidential candidates Louis Gaston Mayila (UPNR president) and Pierre Andre Kombila (RNB president). ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Opposition parties have failed to develop platforms and organize nationwide to win in national elections since the opening of Gabon's political system to multi-partyism in ¶1990. However, Mba Obame and Mamboundou together received 51% of the vote in the 2009 presidential election, outstripping winner Ali Bongo Ondimba's 42%. As for the ruling party, the PDG appears to be at a crossroads with the death of Omar Bongo and the defections that resulted from Ali Bongo's selection as its candidate to succeed his father as president. Ali Bongo's apparent overstepping of the party baron system to tap loyal aides for key positions in the Presidency and government in order to overhaul the old political patronage system has further undermined PDG unity. It remains to be seen whether Gabon's opposition parties and personalities can work together to build support based on issues and organize to erode PDG power, particularly in the 2011 legislative elections. End Comment. REDDICK