Gabon: Opposition selects Jean Ping to run against incumbent Ali Bongo in upcoming elections

Ali Bongo widely expected to be re-elected president.

Gabon’s main opposition parties have chosen former Foreign Affairs minister Jean Ping as their candidate in the forthcoming president elections against the incumbent president Ali Bongo, who is running for a second term.

Ping, is considered one of Africa’s foremost diplomats. He has served as chairman of the African Union commission and as president of the U.N. General Assembly.

“I understand the gravity of the task I have been given,” Ping told thousands of cheering supporters in Libreville. “I will not disappoint you.”

Ping has an unusual history for an African politician. His father was a Chinese businessman who came to Gabon in the 1930s, married the daughter of a traditional chief and became wealthy trading goods including timber and seafood.
Ping came to prominence as an ally and protege of the former president Omar Bongo, however, he fell out with the administration and resigned from the ruling party in 2014 to become a vehement government critic.

He faces an uphill task in a contest with Ali Bongo, who came to office in 2009.

The opposition says the one-round electoral system also the president – the government denies this.
With the state machinery and entrenched networks behind him, Bongo and his Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) are likely to win the election, even though a slump in global oil prices has hurt the economy and slashed revenue in Gabon, one of Africa’s leading oil-producing nations.

With a GDP per capita around US$10,000 a year, Gabon is substantially richer than most sub-Saharan African countries, but frustration over wealth inequality and political rivalries could impact the outcome this election. Opponents have sought to discredit Bongo, in some quarters by casting doubt on whether he is really Gabonese or an adopted child from eastern Nigeria, a charge he has vehemently denied.

Addressing a rally on Saturday for the opening of Gabon’s electoral campaign, Bongo responded to the allegation, saying: “the burden of proof rests on the one who makes the accusation.” “The truth of the matter is they are afraid – because they don’t have a good program,” he said.

Source: Reuters