In Gabon, the president of the Gabonese Elections Center (CGE), Michel Stéphane Bonda spoke Monday, July 17, during a press conference, to provide explanations on the changes to the electoral law. Changes that provoked strong opposition from the opposition last weekend.
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with our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
Three elections are scheduled for August 26: presidential, legislative and local. The president of the CGE, Michel Stéphane Bonda explained that his institution notably proposed that the number of representatives of the candidates be limited in order to avoid congestion in the polling stations which are generally cramped.
The new law now allows only two representatives for the majority and the opposition and a third for the independents. The president of the CGE added that this modification was also requested by the opposition in his memorandum for electoral transparency, submitted to the Constitutional Court in May 2022. The final objective, according to him, is to facilitate voting operations, he insisted.
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On the subject of the removal of the garbage envelope attached to the envelope which is used for the voter to put the ballot of his candidate, Michel Stéphane Bonda specifies that he ” it is a question of simplifying the act of voting and making the electoral operations fluid on the day of the vote “.
Last Friday, the opponents had besieged the palace of the Senate to prevent the promulgation of this amended law which they see as a democratic setback. They promised to go to the Constitutional Court to have it annulled.
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