Gabon president’s party secures parliamentary majority

The Democratic Union of Builders (UDB) party of Gabon's President Brice Oligui Nguema won 102 out of 145 parliamentary seats after the country's recent first and second round of legislative elections, according to results published Tuesday by the government daily L'Union.

The UDB won 50 seats during the second round of voting on Saturday, while it won 52 in the first round of voting on Sep. 27, representing 70% of the members of the National Assembly, the report showed.

According to the results, the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), a former ruling party but supporting the president, secured 16 seats (five elected in the first round and 11 in the second).

The Rally for the Fatherland and Modernity (RPM) party won three seats, while the National Union (UN) and the Gabonese Social Democrats (SDG) each had two seats.

Other small parties won a seat each.

Seven other MPs were elected on independent tickets and four seats remain to be filled where elections were not conducted in the first round, according to the report.

The final results will be proclaimed by the electoral body in the coming days.

Roughly 900,000 Gabonese were eligible to cast their ballots in the country's first round of the legislative polls, the first since a 2023 military coup ousted former President Ali Bongo.

Regional observers from Benin, Guinea, Mauritania and Togo in a joint statement Monday said the second round of voting took place in a calm and serene atmosphere despite a lack of enthusiasm.

Nguema won April's presidential election.