Libreville - Gabon went to the polls yesterday in a general election where President Omar Bongo's party faced no real opposition threat and was expected perhaps even to increase its majority. Opposition parties have urged supporters to boycott the poll, saying the electoral rolls are fraudulent.
Gabon has been ruled by Mr Bongo since 1967 and is considered one of the most stable countries in west Africa, in large part because of oil wealth which has also kept it one of the most prosperous nations in the region.
However, much of the wealth has not filtered down from the political and business elite to those who still endure crushing poverty in a country where the World Bank puts the annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at $6,400.
In a Kinguele, a poor Libreville district known as an opposition stronghold, one young man said: "I'm on the voters' list twice, and my brother's there too, though he died this year." Others mocked the PDG slogan, "Let's continue together".
"We live with the mosquitos and they have air-conditioned four-wheel drives. What are we going to continue together?" one asked.