THE END OF AN ERA

A year and a day ago, on 8th June 2009, Omar Bongo Ondimba, the former president of Gabon, died in Barcelona. Some people say that he had died up to a month before that day, others gossip that while he was dying, his family was on a shopping spree in the most expensive boutiques in the city. Regardless of the details, it was this date, 8th June 2009, that marked the history of modern Gabon. On this day the country lost its Papa Omar, who had ruled for 41 subsequent years. Things were about to change for ever.

Today the city is covered in posters. There is hardly a hoarding board or a street lamp which is not decorated with a picture of Omar. Omar shaking hands with Jaques Chirac, Omar patting Kofi Annan on the back, Omar being patted by the Pope, Omar sitting sheepishly next to Michael Jackson... The minute president (he was indeed incredibly short!) is everywhere, and so are his overpowering quotes (L'inérêt de la nation passera toujours avant celui de tel ou tel, quelle que soit sa place...). Gabon remembers. We half-expected yesterday would be a holiday.

On every step we are thus reminded that Omar is no longer with us. The inevitable question comes to mind: And..? What has changed? Not much, it seems. Following some skirmish with the opposition, Ali Bongo was elected president - just as planned, no surprises (I must admit it seems slightly less ridiculous now that Poland has a twin running for president after his brother's death). After he became the country's new democratic leader, Ali'9, as he was called throughout his campaign, introduced some small popular adjustments, such as the continous work day or cuts in the number of civil servants. However, normal people have felt no difference. The roads still need some serious travaux. The Gabonese are in great need of decent hospitals. Schools are still terribly crowded (apparently, there may be even 100 students in class!). There are still more civil servants' salaries paid every month than there are civil servants (which simply means some salaries are doubled... or tripled). Some people still have champagne while others make do with palm wine. And I still need a visa de sortie to go home in July (90 euros). Same old, same old.

Papa Omar's death definitely spelled the end of an era. Too bad we are still waiting for the new era to begin.

More pictures here.

THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING

Friday 4 September 2009 was an important day in Gabon's history. On this day it was revealed that Ali Bongo, the eldest son of late Omar Bongo, became the new president of the country. The official results were questioned by both Mamboundou and Mba Obame, as they called for their supporters to stand up to the fraud (according to many Bongo did not win the elections).

The riots started in Port Gentil, Gabon's second city and always a hot spot politically. The French Consulate was burned and the inmates of the local prison were set free. Some people were injured during the manifestations and two of them died. The authorities introduced curfew and there was even talk of martial law.

Libreville, on the other hand, remained relatively calm. Unnaturally calm, one could say. There were a few manifestations, people shouting, police intervening (quite brutally, apparently). The streets remained completely empty. No taxis, no pedestrians, no people at the beach, shops closed. At every gas station you could see a couple of soldiers with their guns at the ready. It was not very smart to be outside (even more so because - have I told you? - we're white), so we spent four days locked up at home, watching the empty empty Bord de Mer from our terrace. We drank wine.

Everything seems to be more or less back to normal now, after only a few days. People work, schools and shops have been opened again, even Port Gentil has calmed down quite a bit. You might think nothing major's happened. But the truth is that - regardless of the fact if Ali won or didn't really win the elections - Gabon is giving up an important opportunity for a change. And even though above anything I want to remain safe, I feel slightly disappointed that it's done now, game over, just like that.

A lesson of democracy? Not quite yet.

Photo: www.ali9.org

ALI B IN DA HOUSE?

We are still waiting for the elections results. Apparently, everything will be made public tonight, between 6 pm and midnight. People are saying different things but one seems to be certain: if Ali wins, we should stay at home and see to the fact that we have enough food. International observers have called for calm and asked the cadidates to respect the results when they are finally given. Most people seem to think that nobody will. We are rather anxious to know how the situation will develop... and for the power cuts to stop. Today it has been impossible to send text messages. The mobiles work reluctantly but it tends to be difficult to reach the dialled number. People are gathering at their respective president's headquarters. We've bought tinned food.

A LESSON OF DEMOCRACY

I was still in Poland when on 8 June 2009 Jandro skyped me at an unusal hour, long before our regular chat time. He told me not to be worried or afraid. Very much worried and afraid, I asked what was wrong. It turned out that the borders of the country had been sealed and curfew had been introduced. Omar Bongo Ondimba, Gabon's president and until that day world's longest serving head of government, died in Barcelona at the age of 73 (if interested, click here).

The country remained calm but the situation seemed rather tense. Well into July the election day was finally chosen. On 30 August Gabon was going to choose its brand new future. Two weeks before this day and two days after I came here the campaign started.

The most visible candidate was Omar Bongo's son, Ali Bongo. "Ali'9" is omnipresent (see article from Reuters), be it a T-shirt, a hoarding-board or a street lamp. Whole villages are turned into Ali camps, with people dressed from head to toe in "Ali'9" free gadgets. He's got the money. He's got the marketing specialists. He's got his dad's experience.

Even though there are 23 candidates altogether, only three of them are said to stand a chance. The first one is of course Ali Bongo. The other two are Andre Mba Obame (or AMO, as he called himself for campaign purposes, which also stands for his slogan: Action, Modernity, Openness), interior minister until July and an important piece in the Omar Bongo mechanism. The third one is Pierre Mamboundou, an oppositionist, who has no links to Omar Bongo's government and whose campaign, due to the lack of money, consisted in covering the country in red flags, his trademark. Apparently, all three of them can boast substantial support (more on the candidates here).

We decided that it would be better to just stay at home on the election day. Our Gabonese friends told us to keep low profile - in the end, the French are not very popular nowadays, being seen as the ones who want to impose their will when it comes to the presidential election. And what are we if not French? Thus we spent a quiet day at home, preparing our just-in-case-we-need-to-run-away backpacks and watching the strangely calm street from our terrace. No results were made public yesterday, land and see borders were sealed. It rained heavily for the first time since the wet season ended in June.

Today we've found out that all three main candidates proclaimed themselves winners (see here). The official results will be available in a few days (!). Since there are none yet, people suspect that Ali might have lost. There is talk of riots or even a coup but people are not very serious about any of that yet.

Before the elections one of our friends told us: "On the 30th Gabon will give you a lesson of democracy". Let's hope he knew what he was talking about.


PS. As I am no political analyst and my knowledge of Gabon is still scarce this is all I can offer you on the topic. However, I know a certain Galician guy who knows much more and will answer all the questions on ethnic vote and oil you might have. ;)