Libreville, Nov 18 (AP) Voters in Gabon overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, authorities said on Sunday, more than one year after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country's longtime president and seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation.

More than 91 per cent of voters approved the new constitution in a referendum held on Saturday, Gabon's Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said in a statement read on state television. Turnout was an estimated 53.5 per cent, he added.

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The final results will be announced by the Constitutional Court, the interior minister said.

The draft constitution, which proposes sweeping changes that could prevent dynastic rule and transfer of power, needed more than 50 per cent of the votes cast to be adopted.

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In 2023, soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance and massive embezzlement that risked leading the country into chaos. The junta released Ondimba a week later on humanitarian grounds, allowing him to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The soldiers proclaimed their Republican Guard chief, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo.

Bongo had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. His rule was marked by widespread discontent with his reign. A coup attempt in 2019 failed.

The draft constitution imposes a seven-year term, renewable only once, instead of the current charter that allows for five-year terms renewable without limit. It also says family members cannot succeed a president and abolishes the position of prime minister.

The former French colony is a member of OPEC but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few -- and nearly 40 per cent of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was USD 6 billion in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration. (AP)

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