- History of Gabon
This article documents the History of Gabon.
Early history
From the 1300s until the present time Bantu groups immigrated into
Gabon from several directions to escape enemies or to find new land. Little is known of tribal life beforeEurope an contact but tribal art suggests a rich cultural heritage.Heinar Schilling (1937, p. 189) stated "The high point of Nordic seafaring was reached around the year 1000, at which time the
Vikings penetrated as far south as the Congo estuary". Gabon's first confirmed European visitors were Portuguese traders who arrived in the15th century and named the country after the Portuguese word "gabao" — a coat with sleeve and hood resembling the shape of theKomo river estuary. The coast became a center of the slave trade. Dutch, English, and French traders came in the16th century .French occupation
France assumed the status of protector by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839 and 1841. American missionaries from
New England established a mission atBaraka (nowLibreville ) in 1842. In1849 , the French captured aslave ship and released the passengers at the mouth of the Komo river. The slaves named their settlement Libreville - French for "free town."French explorers penetrated Gabon's dense jungles between 1862 and 1887. The most famous,
Savorgnan de Brazza , used Gabonese bearers and guides in his search for the headwaters of theCongo river . France occupied Gabon in 1885, but did not administer it until 1903. Gabon's first political party, theJeunesse Gabonais , was founded around 1922.In 1910 Gabon became one of the four territories of
French Equatorial Africa , a federation that survived until 1959. The former territories all became independent in August, 1960 — asChad (August 11 ), theCentral African Republic (August 13 ),Congo-Brazzaville (August 15 ), and finally Gabon onAugust 17 .Independence
At the time of Gabon's independence in 1960, two principal political parties existed: the
Bloc Democratique Gabonais (BDG), led byLeon M'Ba , and theUnion Democratique et Sociale Gabonaise (UDSG), led byJ.H. Aubame . In the first post-independence election, held under a parliamentary system, neither party was able to win a majority. The BDG obtained support from three of the four independent legislative deputies, and M'Ba was named Prime Minister. Soon after concluding that Gabon had an insufficient number of people for a two-party system, the two party leaders agreed on a single list of candidates. In the February 1961 election, held under the new presidential system, M'Ba became President and Aubame became Foreign Minister.This one-party system appeared to work until February
1963 , when the larger BDG element forced the UDSG members to choose between a merger of the parties or resignation. The UDSG cabinet ministers resigned, and M'Ba called an election for February1964 and a reduced number of National Assembly deputies (from 67 to 47). The UDSG failed to muster a list of candidates able to meet the requirements of the electoral decrees. When the BDG appeared likely to win the election by default, the Gabonese military toppled M'Ba in a bloodless coup on February 18, 1964. French troops re-established his government the next day. Elections were held in April 1964 with many opposition participants. BDG-supported candidates won 31 seats and the opposition 16. Late in 1966, the constitution was revised to provide for automatic succession of the vice president should the president die in office. In March1967 , Leon M'Ba andOmar Bongo (thenAlbert Bongo ) were elected President and Vice President. M'Ba died later that year, and Omar Bongo became President.In March
1968 Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party: theGabonese Democratic Party "(Parti Démocratique Gabonais)" (PDG). He invited all Gabonese, regardless of previous political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President in February1975 ; in April 1975, the office of vice president was abolished and replaced by the office of prime minister, who had no right to automatic succession. Bongo was re-elected President in December1979 and November1986 to 7-year terms. Using the PDG as a tool to submerge the regional and tribal rivalries that divided Gabonese politics in the past, Bongo sought to forge a single national movement in support of the government's development policies.Economic discontent and a desire for political liberalization provoked violent demonstrations and strikes by students and workers in early
1990 . In response to grievances by workers, Bongo negotiated with them on a sector-by-sector basis, making significant wage concessions. In addition, he promised to open up the PDG and to organize a national political conference in March-April 1990 to discuss Gabon's future political system. The PDG and 74 political organizations attended the conference. Participants essentially divided into two loose coalitions, the ruling PDG and its allies, and theUnited Front of Opposition Associations and Parties , consisting of the breakawayMorena Fundamental and theGabonese Progress Party .The April 1990 conference approved sweeping political reforms, including creation of a national Senate, decentralization of the budgetary process, freedom of assembly and press, and cancellation of the exit visa requirement. In an attempt to guide the political system's transformation to multiparty democracy, Bongo resigned as PDG chairman and created a transitional government headed by a new Prime Minister,
Casimir Oye-Mba . TheGabonese Social Democratic Grouping (RSDG), as the resulting government was called, was smaller than the previous government and included representatives from several opposition parties in its cabinet. The RSDG drafted a provisional constitution in May 1990 that provided a basic bill of rights and an independent judiciary but retained strong executive powers for the president. After further review by a constitutional committee and the National Assembly, this document came into force in March1991 . Under the 1991 constitution, in the event of the president's death, the prime minister, the National Assembly president, and the defense minister were to share power until a new election could be held.Opposition to the PDG continued, however, and in September 1990, two
coup d’etat attempts were uncovered and aborted. Despite anti-government demonstrations after the untimely death of an opposition leader, the first multiparty National Assembly elections in almost 30 years took place in September-October 1990, with the PDG garnering a large majority.Following President Bongo's re-election in December
1993 with 51% of the vote, opposition candidates refused to validate the election results. Serious civil disturbances led to an agreement between the government and opposition factions to work toward a political settlement. These talks led to the Paris Accords in November1994 , under which several opposition figures were included in a government of national unity. This arrangement soon broke down, however, and the1996 and1997 legislative and municipal elections provided the background for renewed partisan politics. The PDG won a landslide victory in the legislative election, but several major cities, includingLibreville , elected opposition mayors during the 1997 local election.Modern times
President Bongo coasted to easy re-elections in December
1998 and November2005 , with large majorities of the vote against a divided opposition. While Bongo's major opponents rejected the outcome as fraudulent, some international observers characterized the results as representative despite any perceived irregularities. Legislative elections held in2001 -2002 , which were boycotted by a number of smaller opposition parties and were widely criticized for their administrative weaknesses, produced a National Assembly almost completely dominated by the PDG and allied independents.References
* Petringa, Maria (2006), "Brazza, A Life for Africa".
* Schilling, Heinar (1937), "Germanisches Leben", Koehler and Amelang, Leipzig, Germany.
ee also
*
Politics of Gabon External links
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2826.htm Background Note: Gabon]
* [http://www.historyofnations.net/africa/gabon.html History of Gabon]
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