Senate of Gabon

The Senate (French: Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 67 members, elected in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors (52 seats) or appointed by the president (15 seats) for a six-year term.^[1] Beginning with the 2009 election, some constituencies elect two senators.

Omar Bongo Ondimba Palace

The status of the Parliament is unclear following the coup d'état four days after the 2023 general election.^[2]

History

The 1991 Constitution provided for the establishment of the Senate; previously the legislature had consisted of a unicameral National Assembly. The creation of Senate was approved on 18 March 1994.^[3] The Senate was not created until 1997, when an election was held to fill the seats in the upper house.^[4]

The first Senate president was Georges Rawiri (1932-2006), a long-time national political figure and close ally of Omar Bongo. He served in this position until his death in 2006.

He was replaced by René Radembino Coniquet, also a member of the Myéné ethnic group.

A Senate election was held on 18 January 2009. The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party won a large majority of seats.^[5] On this occasion, the number of senators was increased from 91 to 102. Following the election, Rose Francine Rogombé was elected as President of the Senate.

Elections

Party	Seats
	1997	2003	2009	2014
Gabonese Democratic Party	52	67	75	81
National Woodcutters' Rally – Rally for Gabon	19	8	6	0
Gabonese Progress Party	4	1	0	0
Democratic and Republican Alliance	3	3	1	1
Social Democratic Party	0	1	2	2
People's Unity Party	1	0	–	–
Union of the Gabonese People	1	1	2	1
Gabon of the Future	–	1	0	0
Common Movement for Development	1	–	–	–
Circle of Liberal Reformers	1	4	2	7
Rally for Democracy and Progress	1	1	–	–
Independent Centre Party of Gabon	0	1	2	1
Gabonese Union for Democracy and Development	–	–	3	–
Independents	8	3	9	7
Total	91	91	102	100
Source: DSG (1997, 2002), IPU (2009), IPU (2014)

See also

• List of presidents of the Senate of Gabon