Gabon's interim PM names new government, with notable absentees
Gabon's interim Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima poses for a photograph in Libreville on September 10, 2023. A two-year transition before the free elections promised by Gabon's new military rulers is a "reasonable objective" the new Prime Minister they appointed told AFP in an interview on September 10, 2023. Photo/AFP
What you need to know:
- Ndong Sima named a 26-member cabinet two days after being appointed as head of the transitional government by General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the August coup d'etat against Bongo.
Gabon's interim Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima announced his new government team Saturday, including military figures and ex-ministers under ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba, but none of the main opposition figures.
Ndong Sima named a 26-member cabinet two days after being appointed as head of the transitional government by General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the August coup d'etat against Bongo.
Oligui has not set a timetable for a return to civilian rule.
Ndong Sima, a 68-year-old Paris-educated economist, served as prime minister under Bongo from 2012 to 2014 before becoming a critic and competing against him in the 2016 and 2023 presidential campaigns.
His appointment, announced on state TV, was made in a decree on Thursday by the new strongman, Oligui, who was sworn in as interim president on Monday.
Ndong Sima had left the main platform of the former political opposition, Alternance 2023, which brought together several opposition leaders behind a common presidential candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa.
Neither Ondo Ossa nor any other leading figures in the coalition, such as Alexandre Barro Chambrier of the Rally for the Fatherland and Modernity (RPM) or Paulette Missambo of the National Union, were named in the new government.
Former National Union member Paul-Marie Gondjout, who left the party in 2022 after internal disputes, was appointed justice minister.
Under the transitional charter, no member of this temporary government will be able to stand in the next presidential election, but there is nothing to prevent Oligui from taking part in that race.
Members of civil society were also named in the government line-up, including economic analyst Mays Mouissi, who becomes the new economy minister.
Three of the ministers who served under Bongo retain places in government.
Camelia Ntoutoume-Leclercq is retained as education minister. Hermann Immongault, the foreign minister under the previous government, becomes an interior minister, and Raphael Ngazouze, previously in charge of vocational training, takes over the civil service portfolio.
