In Gabon, the recommendations of the Inclusive National Dialogue held from April 2 to 30 continue to provoke reactions. Among the 1,000 recommendations, there is the abolition of the Gabonese Elections Center (CGE) and the return of its missions to the Ministry of the Interior. Another subject, the suspension of political parties. With the aim of providing some clarification on these questions, the Minister of the Interior, Hermann Immongault, spoke to the press on Friday May 17.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
Hermann Immongault wanted to reassure the political class and the population Gabonese. The Ministry of the Interior will be in charge of the elections, but there is no question of becoming an electoral fraud machine for the benefit of those in power. For Hermann Immongault, this decision is fully within the framework of the restoration of Gabonese institutions announced by the military following the coup: “ The administration is impersonal. The administration has no face. The administration is impartial. We are in a time where we need to get back to basics. This is also the time for reform. »
Read alsoGabon: the Ministry of the Interior will organize the next elections
The fear of an Interior Ministry in the pay of the executive
Firstly, all old texts on elections will be cleaned up. Political parties and the former electoral commission will be excluded from the organization of elections. Hermann Immongault also defended the suspension of all political parties and the desire to group them into four ideological blocs.
“ When we form blocs, it not only strengthens the debate, but it also strengthens positions, he said. So it is a salutary recommendation that the Gabonese people have had. »
Political party leaders remain unconvinced by these reforms. They fear a Ministry of the Interior in the pay of the executive. And, according to them, the reorganization of the parties would be a forced regrouping which would harm the political identities of each party.
Read alsoGabon: the government “surprised” by the announcement of a hunger strike by Ali Bongo, “treated with dignity”