Around 860,000 registered voters are expected to vote in Gabon's April 12 presidential election. The crucial polls come 19 months after the military staged a coup and ousted President Ali Bongo from power, ending a political dynasty that lasted 56 years.

Here are five things to know about the election.

1. Transition to civilian rule

Saturday's presidential election is a crucial test for the military-led transitional government's promise to restore civilian rule. The August 2023 coup in Gabon was the last in a string of coups that swept through the continent between August 2020 and August 2024. However, Gabon is the first to seek a return to constitutional rule.

Analysts say other countries in the region like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, which are also under military rule, will be closely following the election. So, what message could Gabon's election send to the junta regimes?

"Get a timetable and have an election," Alex Vines, Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, London, told DW.

2. The key candidates

General Brice Oligui Nguema, who spearheaded the coup and is the current transitional president, is widely favored to win the eight-candidate presidential race. The 50-year-old is campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket. Nguema, a cousin of the ousted Ali Bongo, has also emphasized the need to break from the past political dynasty.

Whereas Vines agreed that Nguema's election could, in a way, keep the Bongo dynasty alive, Pepecy Ogouliguende, a civil society activist, told DW she does not see that happening.

"No, no, it can't be a dynasty," Ogouliguende said, explaining that they had seen that sort of governance for the past five decades. "Now, we realize that we are in an inclusive governance." She said there are people in government who never imagined they would find themselves in senior positions. "It's completely different," the Gabonese political activist added.

Nguema's main rival is Bongo's former prime minister, Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. The 57-year-old has challenged the eligibility of Nguema, arguing that the former putschist was a threat to democracy.

"Military personnel were allowed to be candidates," Nze told the Reuters news agency. "We must fight to put an end to this system and send the military back to their barracks."

3. Constitutional and electoral reforms

In November 2024, Gabon adopted a new constitution , which was approved by an overwhelming 92% in a referendum. The new constitution now sets the presidential term at seven years, renewable once. Additionally, a new electoral code permits military personnel to run for office, allowing for Nguema's candidacy. ​

Gabon's independent electoral commission, the Centre Gabonais des Élections (CGE), organizes and supervises elections. However, critics have questioned its independence and effectiveness, especially after it declared Bongo the winner of the disputed 2023 election that culminated in the coup. Vines noted that election observers had mainly given last November's referendum a thumbs up, which could signal that the reforms had helped win back CGE's credibility.

"What's clear is that [with] the direct Bongo family, there was massive fatigue in Gabon," Vines said. "In 2023, that election was clearly going to be incredibly fraudulent and the military was encouraged even by civil society and opposition to move in, which is what occurred." 

4. Economic challenges

Much of Gabon's revenue comes from exporting crude oil, timber, and manganese — an essential component in making steel and batteries.

However, oil revenues have sunk due to falling global crude prices.

The two leading candidates have pledged to diversify Gabon's economy and focus more on agriculture and tourism. Nguema has accused the previous Bongo administration of corruption and wasteful spending. For example, Gabon has a motorway department staffed with workers, but no motorway exists in the country.

Youth unemployment is another major concern for the nation of 2.3 million. According to official data, it currently averages 40%, and rises to 60% in rural areas.

5. The Bongo legacy

Ali Bongo might no longer be president, but he remains influential through political networks, family ties, and elites from his previous regime.

Ali Bongo became president of Gabon in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba. The latter ruled Gabon for 42 years after he assumed power seven years after the country's independence from France in 1960.

The Bongo family was considered a close ally of France, and Nguema has sought to maintain those ties, recently describing Paris as a historic partner.

On the contrary, Nguema's challenger, Nze, has distanced himself from the Bongo family and vowed to "end the umbilical cord" with the former colonial ruler.

Edited by: Keith Walker