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“Letter to Gabonese intellectuals who participated in the inclusive national dialogue and the constitutional committee.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
After having carefully read the draft Constitution that you have just submitted to the President of the Transition, Head of State General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, moral and intellectual probity and Cartesian common sense cannot leave me indifferent to what I call intellectual and political heresy and a political myopia of magnitude.
Indeed, after reading your document, I wondered about the quintessence of the new Constitution that you want to give to our country.
Like me, you know very well that a Constitution, whose fundamental mission is to determine the form of a State, the production of legal standards, the organization and harmonious regulation of institutions, constitutes the soul of the Republic and the identity of a State.
By arrogating the original constituent power, you have lamentably and poorly participated in the development of a Constitution made of bits and pieces.
This Constitution, if adopted, will, I am very convinced, put the President of the political Transition in a bad position at the national and international level.
A reliable constitution must always be impersonal, timeless and non-discriminatory. It must transcend partisan positions.
Whereas by adopting the position of a derived constituent, you should or could have simply restored the Constitution of March 26, 1991 by making a few amendments.
It should be remembered that this 1991 Constitution, resulting from a consensus of all Gabonese political actors, is the best that Gabon has known since its Independence.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One must have a great purpose and appetite to serve one’s country conscientiously and be honest with those in power.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Without embarking on an exhaustive analysis of your draft Constitution, I have been able to note some contradictions and incongruities which would devalue and rob your work of its true value.
There are glaring contradictions.
Work done without motivation and creativity cannot produce good results.
Indeed, several articles in your draft Constitution are unfortunately contradictory and certainly lack intellectual rigor.
As examples.
1- Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the preamble which advocate national unity, the organization of common life according to the principles of national sovereignty [….],the separation of powers [….]the rule of law are contradictory with Article 53, which clearly ostracizes, and Articles 112, 116 and 117, which encroach on the domain of Parliament.
2-Article 28 which stipulates: “the State ensures the participation of Gabonese people residing abroad in the life of the Nation. It watches over their interests.”
In all countries of the world, elections contribute to the life of the Nation by designating its leaders. Without elected leaders, how can the life of a country be regulated. This article is therefore in notorious contradiction with article 53 al.5 which excludes members of the diaspora from being eligible for the presidential election and those with dual nationality.
3-A real contradiction between article 32 al.2 which stipulates: “The state guarantees people living with a disability equal access to jobs and services” while article 53 al.7 excludes the disabled from the presidential election race.
There is a contradiction because a President of the Republic is an employee of the State to the extent that he is paid by it. Any public agent, whatever his status or function, is an agent of the State.
4-Article 46al.2: “this article advocates equal access for women, men, young people and people living with a disability to electoral mandates” while article 53 al.7 excludes people living with a disability.
These contradictions are so recurrent that these Gabonese intellectuals have not taken the trouble to accomplish an efficient work. It is a great pity.
The incongruities of the draft Constitution.
The incongruities of this draft Constitution have two aspects.
1-The Nature of the political regime.
Unbelievable, unbelievable!!! Apart from theocratic regimes, two main political regimes are practiced in the world: the parliamentary regime and the presidential regime.
Reading the draft Constitution of a section of Gabonese intellectuals, one may wonder about the nature of the political regime that you want to establish in Gabon.
Politically and legally, your political regime is nameless. It is neither parliamentary nor presidential. It does not exist anywhere.
By wanting to make the President of the Republic a political control tower through illogical, abracadabra schemes, devoid of any foundation and Cartesian common sense, not only are you seriously undermining Republican Values, the principles that govern a democratic State, but you also want to erect a Presidency of the Republic into an absolute Monarchy. You will also be the first to cry out against dictatorship and the personalization of power.
In which political regime in the world have you seen a President of the Republic with a Vice President of the Republic and a Vice President of the Government appointed and dismissed by him? (article 58).
In which political system in the world have you seen a President of the Republic with a Vice President of the Government who does not exercise the functions of head of government and whose Ministers are only responsible to the President himself. He appoints them alone and terminates their functions alone.
Oh lala!!! Soon our intellectuals will invent the moon.
2- Incongruities related to the articles.
My analysis deliberately focuses on Articles 53 and 100.
These two articles and many others proposed by our intellectuals are not only a real democratic step backwards but could expose the future President of the Republic to harsh criticism at the national and international level.
Article 53 states: “All Gabonese of both sexes who meet the following conditions are eligible for the Presidency of the Republic.”
* Be born to a Gabonese father and mother who were themselves born Gabonese.
This article is an aberration because it is antinomic to the sacred Holy principle of the right of blood.
In 2016 Mr. Jean Ping was elected President of the Gabonese Republic. If his victory had not been stolen, he would have led Gabon with benevolence.
In the United States, the world’s leading power, Barack Obama, of Kenyan father, managed to complete two terms; Kamala Harris, who was Biden’s Vice President and who is running for President today, has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother; in France, Nicolas Sarkozy, of Hungarian father, was elected President of the Republic on May 26, 2007.
Historically, Article 53 al 1 could disqualify most candidates born before 1960, the date of Gabon’s independence, and those whose parents were also born before that date. Indeed, before that date, the Gabonese were, like many other French-speaking Africans, French and they can still claim this nationality by recovering their civil status in Nantes.
If this provision comes into force, only candidates born after 1960 and their parents also born after that year can run for president.
Article 53 al 3 states: “Be at least 35 years old and at most 70 years old.”
In all countries of the world, only the age of majority allows an individual to run. The maximum age matters little. For example, Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand in France, Reagan in the United States, Paul Biya, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Théodoro Obiang Nguema, Alassane Ouattara and even the late Presidents Omar Bongo, Mobutu sessé Seko, ran for President at over 70 years old. In Algeria, President Abdelmadjid Tebboun has just been reappointed to the Presidency of the Republic.
Article 53 al 4: “Being married to a Gabonese born to a Gabonese father and mother. This article is a real attack on the freedom to choose one’s spouse. How would a foreign wife or husband hinder the political life of their spouse? This is unheard of in a democratic space that advocates freedom. For example, Donald Trump’s wife is of Bulgarian origin, Nicolas Sarkozy’s is of Italian origin, Alassane Ouattara’s is French.
You cannot control the feelings of a citizen for political motives.
Article 53 al.5: “Having resided in Gabon for at least 3 years without interruption before the presidential election”.
What are the objective reasons that can prevent a diplomat who has broken with the government, an international civil servant, a student who has just finished his studies, or any worker from running for election in his country? For example, Dominique Strauss Khan, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, despite his romantic misadventure, almost ran for the 2007 presidential election in France while he was living in Washington.
Article 53 al 7 states: “Enjoy a complete state of physical and mental well-being […] This article is an expression of contempt for the disabled. Besides, what does “physical well-being” mean?
Only people suffering from neuropsychiatric, sensory and visual disorders can be excused.
In the United States for example, the 32nd President Frank Delono Roosevelt was handicapped, paralyzed in the lower limbs and placed in a wheelchair, was one of the best American Presidents, he straightened out the American economy through his NEW DEAL policy.
* Article 100 paragraphs 3 and 4 states: “Any parliamentarian excluded from his political party or at the end of his term of office terminates it.” This article lacks logic because it enshrines political transhumance, poaching and indiscipline among parliamentarians.
A parliamentarian is invested by his political party which supports him in many ways. Common sense would dictate that in the event of resignation or exclusion from the party, he should return his mandate to the party. Normally the mandate belongs to the party and not to the individual. The mandate belongs to the candidate if he is independent.
Paragraph 4: “The right to vote of members of parliament is free and personal.”
The right to vote of a parliamentarian is subject to the instructions of the political party on which he is a member. It is free if the candidate is independent.
Ladies and gentlemen, Gabonese intellectuals.
As Pascal wrote: “Man is neither angel nor beast, but he who plays the angel plays the beast.”
I make this analysis with great bitterness because my disappointment is immense.
Intellectuals are the conscience of a country, they are the compass that lights a path.
I regret to write that you have betrayed not only the academic community but you have also hatched an intellectual and intelligent conspiracy against the authorities of the political Transition.
If it is not Lambertism, entryism, it would therefore be mercantilism, transactionalism of bad quality.
Do you think that the President of the Political Transition and CTRI needs all these mind-blowing and insipid maneuvers to get himself elected President of the Republic? After having freed Gabon from an unseasonable dictatorship and totalitarianism, the President of the Political Transition has immeasurable assets to get himself elected and lead the country in suitable conditions if he wants to run.
You failed to initiate a historic turning point that would have allowed Gabon to get out of the rut and the mud.
You have failed to inscribe your names in letters of gold in the political annals of our country.
The clarity, comprehensibility and intelligibility of your work would be consubstantial with the liberation move, therefore it could give a democratic posture to the President of the Political Transition and to the CTRI.
Unfortunately, the mountain seems to be giving birth to a mouse.
My name is Al.Nguia Banda,
Doctor of Law,
DEA in History of Political Ideas,
Masters in Political Sociology.
Montpellier, France.
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2024-09-16 08:23:39