Martin Edzodzomo-Ela, also rendered as Martin Edzodzomo Ela or Martin Edzodzomo Ella, is a Gabonese economist and politician. He has written a number of books and articles advocating for democratic reforms in Gabon. His work with the Gabonese opposition caused his dismissal as a prominent banking executive in the 1970s. He ran as an independent protest candidate in the
1998 Gabonese presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 6 December 1998. Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967, sought a seven-year term against five other candidates. It was Gabon's second multi-party presidential election and, despite low tur ...
.
Life and career
Edzodzomo-Ela holds a PhD in economics.
[ He worked as a senior executive at the Paribas-Gabon bank from 1975 to 1979, but he was dismissed for his opposition to the regime of ]Omar Bongo
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...
.[ He has also contributed journalistic and opinion articles to French African publications like the ''Libreville'' news and ''Cameroun Web'', and he has been interviewed or quoted in outlets like the ''Courier des Afriques'' and ''Gabon Review''. Much of his political commentary has revolved around the ramifications of the systems established by ]Omar Bongo
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...
, which Edzodzomo-Ela argues have been inconsistent with democracies and fair elections. He has advocated fundamental overhauls to these institutions, including constitutional reform.
Edzodzomo-Ela's daughter, Danièle Obono
Danièle Obono (; born 12 July 1980) is a Gabonese-French politician serving as the member of the National Assembly for Paris's 17th constituency since 2017. She has also been the spokesperson for La France Insoumise.
Obono was re-elected in ...
, was born in Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904.
The area has been inh ...
, and in 2017 was elected to the National Assembly of France
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
representing Paris's 17th constituency
The 17th constituency of Paris (french: Dix-septième circonscription de Paris) is a French legislative constituency in the Paris ''département'' (75). Like the other 576 French constituencies, it elects one MP using the two-round system
...
for La France Insoumise
La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; ; "France Unbowed") is a left-wing populist political party in France, launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aim ...
.
Selected works
*''De la démocratie au Gabon : Les fondements d'un renouveau national'' (1993)[
*''Une parole pour un Etat républicain, démocratique et social en Afrique noire'', in three volumes][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edzodzomo-Ela, Martin
Living people
Gabonese economists
Candidates for President of Gabon
Gabonese writers
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Gabonese people