The interior minister of Gabon‚ Hermann Immongault announced on state-tv that citizens strongly backed new constitution with 91‚8% approval rate; about half of eligible voters took part in the voting
The military-backed reform comes after General Brice Oligui Nguema took control last year — a change most locals supported due to previous governments poor handling of oil money and wide-spread poverty (affecting 1/3rd of population)
The new rules make big changes to how things work: french becomes official work-language; prime-minister job gets cut; presidential terms last 7 years with a two-term max limit. However theres no rule stopping Nguema from running in future elections
The transition to democracy should happen around mid-2025: its part of the militarys promise to fix things. The coup that happened about 15 months ago removed Ali Bongo whose family had kept tight control of the nations resources
This vote shows our dedication to bringing democratic change
The high approval numbers came as no surprise since most people wanted change — the countrys wealth didnt help regular folks who still deal with basic money issues despite all that oil money laying around