Gabon votes in referendum on new constitution after military coup last year

Transitional leader urges voters to back draft charter, which proposes changes that include presidential term limits.

Gabon is voting in a referendum on whether to adopt a new constitution that would pave the way to democratic rule after the military deposed President Ali Bongo Ondimba last year, ending 55 years of rule by his family in the oil-rich nation.

An estimated 860,000 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots on Saturday on the draft charter, which proposes sweeping changes in the Central African nation that could prevent dynastic rule and sets presidential term limits.

The proposed constitution needs more than 50 percent of votes to be adopted.

“We have a date with history,” General Brice Oligui Nguema, the transitional president who led the coup last year, said in a post on social media platform X alongside a photo of him in civilian dress and baseball cap, with a voting card in his hand.

Nguema has been urging voters to support the new constitution, which he says embodies the military government’s commitment to charting a new course for Gabon.