Provisional results showed 91.8 percent of voters had backed the new constitution, the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI) said in a statement. An estimated 860,000 people in Gabon were registered to vote. The interior ministry said 53.54 percent turned out to cast their ballot.

National broadcaster Gabon TV said there were no serious incidents reported during voting across 2,835 polling stations nationwide.

The proposed new constitution sets out a vision of a presidency with a maximum of two terms, but increases the length from five to seven years. It also abolishes the post of prime minister and stops family members from succeeding a president. Presidential candidates would have to be exclusively Gabonese – with at least one Gabon-born parent – and have a Gabonese spouse.

transitional president Brice Oligui Nguema, declared the referendum a “great step forward” as he cast his vote at a Libreville school. “All Gabonese are coming to vote in a transparent fashion,” the junta chief told the press, having ditched his general’s uniform for a brown civilian jacket over jeans.

Oligui has vowed to hand power back to civilians after a two-year transition but has made no secret of his desire to win the presidential election scheduled for August 2025. Opponents of the proposed text had dismissed it as tailor-made for strongman Oligui to remain in power.