President Omar Ali Bongo narrowly beat rival Jean Ping in the official results of the Presidential election in 2016. With results showing a trend of success for Ping, the final province's results were released after significant delays, showing a remarkable 99.5% support for President Bongo in Haut-Ogooue. This was conveniently just enough to push Ali Bongo into first place. An EU Election Observation Mission present in the country declared that observers had incurred problems accessing the process of vote counting. The right to demonstrate or express oneself was described by the mission as 'restrictive'. The electoral regulations benefitted President Bongo, according to the Mission's report.