Movement for National Renewal (Gabon)

Gabon

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The Movement for National Renewal (French: Mouvement de Redressement National or MORENA) is the main political party opposing the rule of President Omar Bongo in Gabon.

MORENA was first organized in the 1970s by Gabonese exiles living in Paris. Illegal in Gabon and at risk from the Bongo supporters in the French government, MORENA did not operate openly until after the victory of the French Socialist Party in May 1981. Encouraged by the ascendance of the Socialists, MORENA sympathizers in Gabon prepared tracts and a White Book advocating a program of liberal multi-party democracy and accusing Bongo of corruption and other misdeeds. These were circulated during the visit of longtime opposition leader and elder statesman Jean-Hilaire Aubame in the fall of 1981, although Aubame did not himself support MORENA.

In November and December 1981, matters came to a head, with the arrest of seven prominent figures, including Jérôme Nguimbi Mbina, a legislator from Nyanga Province, additional tracts demanding their release, demonstrations, and further arrests. A total of 260 were arrested, 37 tried, and 29 convicted, with sentences ranging up to 20 years. In addition, Amnesty International later reported that a number of the imprisoned MORENA people had been tortured. The trials and sentencing resulted in some international protest; in 1983, President Mitterrand of France urged review of the sentences, and many were reduced.

MORENA-in-exile continued to operate in Paris, led by Reverend Paul M'ba Abessole, who emphasized nonviolence and dialogue with the Bongo regime. In response, Bongo publicly asked exiles to come home and participate within the PDG, and some did return, while in 1985, remaining MORENA members organized a government-in-exile headed by Max Anicet Koumba-Mbadinga. They were subjected to bomb attacks a number of times.

During the 1990s the party split into several factions, which have had varying degrees of success in capitalizing on the political reforms in Gabon.