The former African Union Chairman will challenge incumbent Ali Bongo in the August polls.

 Opposition parties in Gabon have endorsed Jean Ping, former Chairman of the African Union, as their unique flagbearer for the country’s presidential election scheduled for August 2016. Online publications quote Mr Ping as saying in a tweeter post that “Following a meeting, I am officially named as the single candidate of the Opposition Front for Political Change (FOPA) in the presidential election!” His major challenge, observers say, will, be to try to break the ruling PDG party’s half-century grip on power. Incumbent Head of State, Ali Bongo won a disputed election in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich State since 1967.

While saluting the choice on his modest person by 16 of the 27 opposition members who attended the endorsement session, Jean Ping is quoted by Africatimes as saying that the designation was an important step in the electoral process. He added that in a country with as many as 50 political parties to come up with a unique candidate for a highly disputed presidential election was a sign of indescribable confidence that must be saluted and upheld.

Reuters relays Jean Ping as saying that he wants to make the presidency more accountable, institute term limits, and invest in health, education and infrastructure. But pundits hold that the election seems an arduous task for the opposition considering that they have only three out of the 125 seats in the National Assembly.

As political parties fine-tune their strategies, government is also leaving no stone unturned to ensure transparent, fair and successful polls with focus on ensuring the maximum enrolment of electors. Interior Minister Pacôme Moubelet Boubeya on Thursday, December 17, 2015 told political party leaders that the final phase of the revision of the electoral lists ahead of the elections was to begin in January 2016.