The Gabonese Progress Party (, PGP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

History

The PGP was established as a left-leaning party in March 1990, at the beginning of the wave of democratization that swept Africa in the early 1990s. Initially, its key leaders were Pierre-Louis Agondjo Okawé, who was President, Marc Saturnin Nan Nguema, who was Vice-President, and Joseph Rendjambe, who was Secretary-General.David E. Gardinier and Douglas A. Yates, ''Historical Dictionary of Gabon'' (2006), Third Edition, pages 256–257. Rendjambe died in unclear circumstances in May 1990, resulting in riots by angry opposition supporters in Port-Gentil and

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

. In the 1990 parliamentary elections the PGP won 18 seats, emerging as the third-largest party. Agondjo Okawé was the PGP candidate in the 1993 presidential elections, finishing third amidst opposition allegations of fraud. President

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) received more votes than Agondjo Okawé even in the PGP stronghold on Port-Gentil, a fact that was noted skeptically by observers. Agondjo Okawé refused an invitation to join the government in late 1994, following talks between the government and the opposition. In the 1996 parliamentary elections the party was reduced to 10 seats, but was now the second-largest party to the PDG. The PGP supported radical opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou in the 1998 presidential elections in which Bongo again prevailed, with Mamboundou placed second according to official results. In the 2001 parliamentary elections the PGP was reduced to three seats. Agondjo Okawé announced in March 2005 that he would not be a candidate for the 2005 presidential elections, a decision attributed to old age and declining health.Présidentielles 2005: Agondjo Okawé à nouveau forfait
L'Union, 7 March 2005 Agondjo Okawé died in August 2005, and was replaced as party leader by Seraphim Ndaot Rembogo. The PGP subsequently experienced internal disagreement regarding its choice of a presidential candidate,GABON: Bongo, Africa's longest-serving ruler, wants another seven years
IRIN, 3 October 2005 ultimately not nominating anyone. In the 2006 parliamentary elections the party won only two seats. The party did not nominate a candidate for the 2009 presidential elections, and lost its two seats in the 2011 parliamentary elections, which it boycotted.Tom Lansford (2015) ''Political Handbook of the World 2015'', CQ Press

References

1990 establishments in Gabon Consultative member parties of the Socialist International Democratic socialist parties in Africa Political parties established in 1990 Political parties in Gabon Socialism in Gabon Social democratic parties in Africa {{Gabon-stub