Senate of Gabon
{{Politics of Gabon}}
File:Libreville-palais-senat.jpg
The Senate ({{langx|fr|Sénat}}) is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 67 members, elected in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors (52 seats) or appointed by the president (15 seats) for a six-year term.{{cite web |website=Gabon: Freedom in the World 2022 }} Beginning with the 2009 election, some constituencies elect two senators.
The status of the Parliament is unclear following the coup d'état four days after the 2023 general election.{{Cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=2023-08-30 |title=Gabon military officers declare coup after Ali Bongo wins disputed election |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/30/gabon-coup-military-takeover-gabonese-election-disputed |access-date=2023-08-30 |issn=0261-3077}}
History
The 1991 Constitution provided for the establishment of the Senate; previously the legislature had consisted of a unicameral National Assembly. The creation of Senate was approved on 18 March 1994.{{cite web |title=Histoire - Sénat - République Gabonaise |url=http://www.senatgabon.com/histoire/ |date=3 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103013909/http://www.senatgabon.com/histoire/ |archive-date=2017-01-03 }} The Senate was not created until 1997, when an election was held to fill the seats in the upper house.David E. Gardinier and Douglas A. Yates, Historical Dictionary of Gabon (third edition, 2006), Scarecrow Press, page 65.
The first Senate president was Georges Rawiri (1932-2006), a long-time national political figure and close ally of Omar Bongo. He served in this position until his death in 2006.
He was replaced by René Radembino Coniquet, also a member of the Myéné ethnic group.
A Senate election was held on 18 January 2009. The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party won a large majority of seats.[http://www.gabonews.ga/actualite/actualites_2007.php?Article=6143 "Gabon: Elections sénatoriales 2009: le PDG en tête des résultats"]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Gabonews, 19 January 2009 {{in lang|fr}}. On this occasion, the number of senators was increased from 91 to 102. Following the election, Rose Francine Rogombé was elected as President of the Senate.
Elections
| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:right
!rowspan=2|Party !colspan=4|Seats | ||||
| 1997
!2003 !2009 !2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left|Gabonese Democratic Party | 52 | 67 | 75 | 81 |
| align=left|National Woodcutters' Rally – Rally for Gabon | 19 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| align=left|Gabonese Progress Party | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| align=left|Democratic and Republican Alliance | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| align=left|Social Democratic Party | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| align=left|People's Unity Party | 1 | 0 | – | – |
| align=left|Union of the Gabonese People | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| align=left|Gabon of the Future | – | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| align=left|Common Movement for Development | 1 | – | – | – |
| align=left|Circle of Liberal Reformers | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| align=left|Rally for Democracy and Progress | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| align=left|Independent Centre Party of Gabon | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| align=left|Gabonese Union for Democracy and Development | – | – | 3 | – |
| align=left|Independents | 8 | 3 | 9 | 7 |
| class=sortbottom
|align=left|Total | 91 | 91 | 102 | 100 |
| class=sortbottom
|align=left colspan=5|Source: [http://www.stat-gabon.org/documents/PDF/Donnees%20stat/Compteannuaire/Ann0107d.pdf DSG] (1997, 2002), [http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2116_09.htm IPU] (2009), [http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2116_E.htm IPU] (2014) |
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.senatgabon.net/ Website of the Senate of Gabon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302152316/http://www.senatgabon.net/ |date=2016-03-02 }}
{{Gabon topics}}
{{National upper houses}}
Category:1997 establishments in Gabon
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