Presidential elections were held in

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

on 5 December 1993, the first time more than one candidate had contested a presidential election in the country. Incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

, in power since 1967, sought a five-year term against twelve other candidates. According to official results Bongo won in the first round with 51.2% of the vote. However, the main opposition leader, Paul Mba Abessole, alleged fraud, claimed victory, and threatened to form a rival government. Riots in 1994 practically brought the country to a standstill until Bongo agreed to attend a peace conference with opposition groups in September 1994, in which a coalition government was formed until the 1996 parliamentary election, which Bongo's

Gabonese Democratic Party The Gabonese Democratic Party (, PDG) is a political party in Gabon. It was the dominant political party in Gabonese politics from 1961 until 2023, when it was deposed in a coup d'état against President Ali Bongo. It was also the sole legal ...

won by a landslide.

Campaign

Bongo was supported by the "New Alliance", a coalition that included the Association for Socialism in Gabon, the

Circle of Liberal Reformers The Circle of Liberal Reformers (, CLR) is a political party in Gabon. History The CLR was formed in 1993 as a breakaway from the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), and was led by Jean-Boniface Assélé. It supported incumbent President O ...

, the Gabonese Socialist Union and the People's Unity Party.

Results

Based on

exit poll An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working fo ...

ing at the time of the election, the news organization

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

placed Bongo's share of the vote at about 37%. Voter turnout was 88.1%.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p404

References

{{Gabonese elections Presidential elections in Gabon

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...