Gabon faces constitutional crisis over acting president

Gabon’s Constitutional Court has intervened in a crisis
surrounding hospitalised president Ali Bongo, declaring to a storm
of criticism that it had modified the constitution to address his
“temporary incapacity”.

Speculation about Bongo’s future has swollen since the
59-year-old president was taken to hospital in the Saudi capital
Riyadh on October 24. After initially saying that Bongo had been
admitted for “severe fatigue,” his office on Sunday admitted that
he had undergone surgery.

It said his condition had “greatly improved” and was “recovering
most of his functions” but gave no details about his illness or
when he would return.

The president of the Constitutional Court, Marie-Madeleine
Mborantsuo, late Wednesday informed reporters that the court had
decided to modify the constitution in order to address the scenario
of “temporary incapacity” by the head of state.

It inserted text in the charter that said: “In the event of the
temporary unavailability of the president… certain functions… may
be carried out either by the vice president or the prime minister
accordingly, on special authorisation of the Constitutional
Court.”

In its first step under this clause, the court authorised Vice
President Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou to chair a cabinet
meeting. Ministers have not gathered since Bongo’s absence, meaning
that key decisions have been placed on hold.

The court had been asked to intervene by Prime Minister Emmanuel
Issoze Ngondet. Opposition figures and civil society groups reacted
furiously to the court’s move, accusing Mborantsuo, a close ally of
Bongo and of his father Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for
nearly 42 years until his death in 2009 of illegality.

The court “in no respects has the right to modify the
constitution,” said Paul-Marie Gondjout of the National Union, one
of the main opposition parties. “She is in effect opening up a new
front in Gabon’s deep political crisis.”

The constitution, before its modification by the court,
stipulated that only the president had the right to authorise the
vice president to organise a cabinet meeting.

It also says that if there is a definitive vacation of power, a
situation that has to be confirmed by the Court, the speaker of the
Senate is named interim president pending the holding of
presidential elections within 60 days.

“This lady (Mborantsuo) cannot be allowed to trample on our
constitution and give away the sovereignty of the Gabonese people,”
opposition senator Jean-Christophe Owono Nguema, told AFP. “I fear
the worst for our country.”

In contrast, Telesphore Ondo, a constitutional specialist, said
the court did have a “power of interpretation (and) regulation of
the institutions” and was acting legally in amending the
constitution at a time of “turbulence.”

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