section_path: Background
section_name: Background
paragraph_text: Background
  
  Since independence from France in 1960, Gabon has primarily been ruled by the Bongo family starting with President Omar Bongo in 1967 and, following his death in 2009, by his son Ali Bongo Ondimba. Ali Bongo was re-elected in an election in 2016 which prompted a failed coup attempt in 2019. During the rule of the Bongo family the country had been plagued by accusations of corruption and nepotism, several elections had been tainted by reports of fraud or irregularities (notably, the official results of the 2016 election from the Bongo family's native province of Haut-Ogooué showed Bongo receiving 95.5% of the vote on an alleged 99.9% turnout, an improbable result sparking widespread protests), and the Constitution and electoral laws had been changed multiple times in order to remove term limits, change the voting system to exploit the fractured opposition, and change the timing of elections to ensure the opposition could not rally following a win by the ruling party.
  
  Despite being a member of OPEC, one of Africa's major producers of oil (which accounts for 60% of national revenue), and having one of the highest per-capita GDPs on the continent, Gabon faces serious socioeconomic crises: a third of the population lives below the poverty line of US$5.50 per day, and the unemployment rate among Gabonese aged 15 to 24 was estimated at 40% in 2020. Gabon was also ranked 136th out of 180 countries for the perception of corruption by Transparency International in 2022.
  
  In a speech delivered on the country's Independence Day on 17 August, Bongo, a close ally of France, insisted that he would not allow Gabon to be subjected to "destabilization", referring to other recent coups in the region.