Commonwealth Observers Call For Increased Civic Participation, Commend Gabon’s Polls

Commonwealth Observer Group has praised Gabon’s peaceful, calm and orderly April 12 presidential vote and called for citizens to become more involved in the electoral process.

In its interim statement, the group advised the government to promote greater civic participation in the electoral process. It suggested that this could be achieved by allowing longer periods for raising public awareness of voting and civic engagement (as a constitutional right).

It said enhanced civic participation would enable citizens to make informed decisions and engage more effectively in the democratic process.

The Commonwealth group, led by Danny Faure, the former president of Seychelles, issued its interim assessment at a press conference in Libreville.

Speaking to journalists, he said: “It is the view of the Commonwealth Observer Group that this election appeared largely transparent, was peaceful, and conducted in accordance with the established legislative framework of Gabon and that citizens were able to freely exercise their franchise.

“We congratulate and commend the people of Gabon for exercising their right to vote and reaffirming their faith in the principles of democracy.”

The statement also commended the improved media landscape in Gabon, with media stakeholders experiencing reduced state interference in editorial content.

However, the election observer group called for the enforcement of equal airtime and the giving of all candidates access to traditional media—especially government-owned media—to maintain a level playing field for all contestants.

Commenting on the vote-counting process, the statement said: “While counting had barely commenced, there were already official projections of voter turnout and participation rates. The group cautions against communicating statistics before final verification, as this could potentially undermine trust in the process.”

The interim report recommended a post-election analysis and urged the creation of a suitable, locally driven mechanism to evaluate all recommendations made by citizen and international observer missions, especially as the country prepares to return to the polls for legislative and municipal elections.

Before its departure, the COG will prepare its final report, an independent assessment setting out its full findings on the electoral process, with detailed recommendations to further improve Gabon’s electoral process.

The report will then be submitted to the Commonwealth secretary-general, Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and shared with the government of Gabon, the Ministry of Interior, and other stakeholders, including citizens.