Bongo's party 'wins absolute majority'

2011-12-18 10:30

Libreville - President Ali Bongo's Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) was assured of an absolute majority in the National Assembly after Saturday's general election, a PDG source close to the interior ministry said early on Sunday.

The party had won at least 73 of the 120 seats in the assembly and its score was expected to be higher, the source said.

Voters had trickled to the polls in Gabon in elections expected to hand a resounding victory to the president's party in the face of a splintered opposition and a boycott by some opposition groups.

In the first legislative election since his father Omar died in 2009 after 41 years in power, Bongo, 52, campaigned on his economic achievements and the co-hosting of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with Equatorial Guinea, an event that has spurred major investment.

A total of 746 000 people are registered to vote in the west African country of 1.5 million inhabitants, sub-Saharan Africa's fourth largest oil producer.

Despite the recent emergence of a middle class, disparities are huge, with more than half of the population living on less than two dollars a day.

- SAPA