Gabon 2023 — GA Speeches

Mr. President of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mr. President,

I extend to you my warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of this 78th ordinary session of the General Assembly.
I pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Csaba KÖRÖSI, for the work accomplished during his mandate.
I express my country's confidence in the Secretary-General, António GUTERRES, in the bold and multifaceted action as well as the important reforms he is undertaking, with a view to accelerating the achievement of the sustainable development goals on the one hand, and promoting international peace and security on the other.

Mr. President,

I stand before this august assembly in an unprecedented context for my country, which passed through a moment of fear following a chaotic electoral process interrupted on 30 August last by the defense and security forces. Naturally, this intervention was condemned by the international community in the name of the violation of democratic requirements for the devolution of power.
It is nonetheless useful, for the balance of information and to dispel certain suspicions, to recall precisely the Gabonese political context that preceded and justified this seizure of power. It would be wrong, in our view, to pronounce unnuanced judgments and to make facile amalgamations that are out of step with the realities of our context.
Allow me first of all to remind everyone of the experience of the 2016 presidential election, of which the current situation is one of the consequences. Everyone remembers that this election was the subject of a detailed report by the European Union Election Observation Mission, which denounced a fraudulent, insincere process devoid of any transparency, with results defying the laws of statistics. Above all, it was characterized by violence, with numerous losses of human life and significant damage to property affecting the entire community.
In an attempt to defuse this situation, whose social cost was high, a substitute dialogue was organized in 2017, which nonetheless resulted in the return of two-round elections. It is this small concession to democracy that was once again taken back in the first half of 2023, even before it could be tested. The regime therefore had no intention of abandoning its strategy of fraud.
From 2017 to 2022, no preparation was undertaken for the elections constitutionally scheduled to be held no later than 26 August 2023. This preparation only began in February 2023 and was marked by an incredible number of violations and distortions of the constitutional, legislative, and regulatory framework governing elections, including violations that occurred even after the electoral process had already begun. I can cite, among others, if you will permit this non-exhaustive list:
the return to single-round elections;
the choice of a president of the Gabonese Elections Center who was notoriously biased, due to his known membership in the ruling party;
the unreliability of the electoral register, affected by the presence of numerous deceased persons;
the removal of provisions allowing for the representation of all candidates in polling stations, in flagrant violation of the principle of equality;
the amendment, in violation of the simple principle of the hierarchy of norms, of legislative provisions arising from the law on common provisions for all political elections, by decree;
the coupling of candidacies for the presidential and legislative elections.
It may be observed that all appeals made by the various components of the opposition and civil society to contest these changes were rejected without examination by a Constitutional Court beholden to those in power.
Any attentive, honest, and good-faith observer of Gabonese political life in recent years was fully aware of the deteriorating situation. Various figures within the Gabonese opposition went to see diplomatic missions and then, together, on 9 August 2023, went to see the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Central Africa, resident in Libreville, Gabon, to warn him of the turn the electoral process was taking and of the danger of allowing this course of action to continue in light of all these observations.
Yet I wish to reiterate here without ambiguity that neither political actors nor voters — no one — was prepared to accept another electoral forgery.
This determination, known to all, did not prevent the Gabonese Elections Center from transporting ballot boxes under its exclusive and entirely unsealed control, and from fraudulently altering official records at result-centralization locations distinct from the locations where the elections had actually taken place. Accepting results obtained in this manner could only lead, the day after their proclamation, to confrontations.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In such a scenario, the defense and security forces had a choice: prepare to suppress these protests, with the risk of sooner or later being prosecuted before international courts for their responsibility; or decide to interrupt a fraudulent process dangerous to national cohesion. They responsibly chose the second path in order to avert the risk of a conflagration that would have shaken the very foundations of Gabonese society and would not have spared the numerous foreign populations living in Gabon. It would not have been responsible to allow a confused situation to fester. A descent into a cycle of violence would have constituted an overall disaster.
Consequently, this military intervention — bloodless, with no material damage recorded — was the lesser evil. The population approved it by a very large majority, as shown by scenes of spontaneous jubilation that everyone around the world was able to follow through images that circulated widely, and the majority of the political class found itself relieved to have avoided an uncertain outcome.
To condemn such a process, therefore, is to maintain that it would have been better to let the confrontations happen and to count the victims afterward, since no one in the opposition was willing to allow this umpteenth electoral heist to take place.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

If such an intervention was necessary, we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. Without delay, and in an inclusive manner, we must prepare reforms and return to ordinary institutional processes that allow for the devolution of power through elections.
The roadmap of the transitional government I have led for two weeks aims to restore trust, to make major corrections to the electoral framework, to restore institutions, and to prepare for the implementation of these reforms.
The expected outcomes of this consultation will be, following a national conference, the adoption of a new constitution reflecting our social contract, as well as the adoption of a legislative package including in particular an electoral law guaranteeing transparent, free, and credible elections.
That is why I have already announced, for next week, a press conference at which I will indicate the schedule for consultations with the entire political class as well as civil society. I will take this opportunity to lay out the timeline of the various stages that will lead us to new elections.
In this perspective, what Gabon needs most is encouragement and support to carry out these undertakings within a timeframe that everyone considers reasonable. I therefore seize this opportunity to issue a solemn appeal to all our bilateral, regional, and multilateral partners to accompany and support this popular momentum for national salvation, with a view to strengthening the foundations of the rule of law and democracy for shared prosperity.
In this pivotal phase of our destiny and our history, the Gabonese people, united in harmony around the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), will remember with gratitude the solidarity and trust of the peoples of Africa and of the entire world who will stand by its side to help it preserve its full place in the concert of nations.

Mr. President,

Seventy-eight years after the creation of the UN, an unending cycle of crises continues to darken the aspiration and horizon of lasting peace between nations and within nations.
The multiple crises of solidarity, security crises, humanitarian crises, health crises, climate crises, and geopolitical crises are fueling feelings of distrust toward international institutions and mechanisms.
Indeed, it is patently clear that the system of collective and indivisible security advocated by the United Nations Charter appears to be a fiction in many regions of the world plagued by the upheavals of war, particularly in Africa, where the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region have become veritable epicenters of instability.
In most of these regions, the predation of natural resources constitutes a significant source of conflict, to the point that they become a veritable curse for the countries that possess them.

Mr. President,

We find ourselves today at an inflection point that requires each member of the international community to reclaim the objectives of the United Nations Charter and to reconcile with the aspirations of the world's peoples.
It is fundamental to reset the social contract between nations, regardless of their size or scope, bearing firmly in mind that every people counts.
Above all, we must recalibrate the projection of our identity as peoples of the world by giving priority, in every instance, to dialogue over confrontation, and to cooperation over the logic of opposing camps.
We must, without further delay, undertake a genuine structural transformation of our Organization's peace and security architecture, as well as adapt our mechanisms for promoting peace and security to a global context of crises and conflicts in constant flux.
This is precisely the relevance of the theme of this session, which focuses on the need to restore trust and reignite solidarity in order to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Mr. President,

Gabon reaffirms that prevention is an essential tool that must be at the center of our actions if we want consolidated and lasting peace. The international community's efforts in the area of prevention have thus far been slow, poorly adapted, and underfunded.
Indeed, the lack of adequate resources allocated to our Organization's actions in favor of prevention and peacebuilding has unfortunately contributed significantly either to the resurgence of crises during periods of transition or to the emergence of new conflicts.
Our generation has a responsibility toward future generations: to bequeath to them a safer world, a world in which threats to peace and security linked to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are contained, a world free of nuclear threat.

Mr. President,

A considerable gap remains between our actions and our commitments. It is time to close it, particularly on the crucial issue of financing for climate action.
Gabon has devoted several decades of investment to the preservation of biodiversity and has demonstrated a constant commitment to the fight against climate change.
New debt-for-nature financial pacts offer opportunities to increase budgets devoted to biodiversity protection, to address the unsustainability of developing countries' debt, and to combat climate change. Through this new green finance mechanism, my country has just benefited from a 3% restructuring of its debt in exchange for a commitment to invest 163 million dollars in the preservation of its marine ecosystems.
We must go further in this direction. I therefore invite international financial partners to multiply debt conversion initiatives to address the challenges of global warming, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development. It is through a multilateral approach and the reinvention of our responses that we can effectively meet the multifaceted challenges facing humanity.

Mr. President,

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development constitutes our common roadmap for addressing global challenges. However, with less than 10 years remaining before the deadline, progress is uneven and insufficient. Poverty, hunger, social inequalities, deficiencies in health and education, and the lack of adequate financing for the Sustainable Development Goals seriously jeopardize the achievement of this ambitious agenda.
Throughout the transition I am leading, I intend to redouble my country's efforts to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by strengthening national policies in a practical and pragmatic manner and by encouraging innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Furthermore, I intend to place particular emphasis on action at the local level by authorities, civil society, and the private sector, by fully involving citizens, particularly young people and women.
It is essential that the international community increase its support for developing countries. Additional financing is indeed necessary, particularly for the most vulnerable countries.
The various summits organized on the margins of this session, notably on financing for development, climate ambition, and universal coverage, are an opportunity for the international community to translate its commitment to joint action into concrete measures in order to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

Mr. President,

Within the United Nations system, exclusion and marginalization are formidable predators of our shared existence. Africa must be able to find its rightful place as a full-fledged actor on the international stage, and not merely as a geopolitical stake for the powers.
Indeed, more than 78 years after the creation of the UN, the world has completely changed. The international context has completely changed. The geopolitical landscape has completely changed. The nature of wars has been literally transformed. Technology has completely transformed our daily lives. Yet the structure of our institutions remains essentially unchanged, particularly with regard to our collective security.
To meet the challenges of the future, our security architecture should reflect present and future realities. We must update our international institutions, our mindsets, and our perceptions of lasting peace, shared prosperity, and living together. We must reinvent solutions to contemporary threats, notably climate change and cyberspace insecurity.
We must confront the crisis of international solidarity that fuels underlying economic, humanitarian, health, and food crises. We cannot meet the challenges of this century with the tools of another century.

Mr. President,

In light of this distressing observation, we are convinced of the urgent need to act to give effect to three fundamental perspectives capable of making the multilateral system more credible and more inclusive.
First, we must reform the Security Council without further delay. It must be representative of today's realities and of current and future challenges.
Second, we must redefine our rules and our mechanisms to adequately address the evolution of insecurity and terrorism. This means guaranteeing inclusiveness and solidarity in such a way as to leave no room whatsoever for double standards. We must also address more seriously the root causes of conflicts and crises.
Third, we must build a new social contract — a new global pact between generations, between the governing and the governed, between the global and regional scales — with particular emphasis on young people, women, civil society, and the private sector.
In this new social contract for the future, bridges must everywhere replace walls. Education must everywhere push back the shackles of ignorance and intolerance. Multilateralism must prevail over unilateralist postures. And the logic of dialogue must constantly prevail over the logic of antagonism and spheres of influence.

Mr. President,

In closing, I would like to emphasize our duty to respond to present and future generations. This intergenerational solidarity is a moral imperative toward those who will have no choice but to inherit the consequences of our choices today. We owe them a response commensurate with their fears, their needs, and their legitimate aspirations to live in peace, in dignity, and in prosperity.
It is in light of these existential perspectives that we have taken up our responsibilities and that we are resolutely committed to ensuring that our actions rise to the level of our people's expectations.

Thank you.