Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Alix-Ida Mussavu
Published on 2024-03-01 12:04:50
On Friday, March 1st, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) made its political comeback amidst complaints against former opponents. This grouping of parties from the former opposition to the ousted regime accuses their former comrades, who are now in power, of being opportunists without morality. Positioning itself as the “new opposition,” it aims to play its role as a whistleblower to ensure the success of the Transition.
Founded after the 2009 presidential election, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), which fielded a candidate in the 2023 presidential election, held its political comeback on Friday, March 1st. During this transition period, this coalition of political parties from the opposition under Ali Bongo’s regime is pleased not to have been associated with the deposed power through appointments. Believing that it takes a lot of courage for the Transition president to truly change the situation in Gabon, this group has observed that Ali Bongo’s opponents were merely power-hungry individuals. “All this babbling was nothing more than a belly problem,” said the current president of the UFC.
“Those who claimed virtue are actually disbelievers in republican principles and immoral opportunists,” continued Joachim Mbatchi Pambou. “Now seated in the management of the country, they only replicate the Democratic Party’s model, using tribalism, nepotism, clientelism, and sectarianism as methods,” he added, noting that the notoriety of the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI) earned on the evening of August 30, 2023, “loses its flavor and recalls memories of the ousted power.” This has led to a sense of betrayal and disappointment. The UFC regrets the dismantling of the Senate, the fact that the Transition Charter has been amended three times in six months.
But also that the budget law was passed without any opposing debate, that the masterminds behind the massacre in Franceville are still at large, and that Conasysed has issued a mobilization call that could lead to a strike after a general assembly on March 2. This is seen in the context of schools operating without budgets and teachers’ job descriptions not being addressed. “The government must act quickly and promptly to prevent an unnecessary teachers’ strike that would disrupt our children’s school year,” requested Joachim Mbatchi Pambou.
For the UFC, the current Transition was supposed to allow Gabon to rejuvenate itself if it was virtuous. “Six months later, the assessment is certainly mixed, but we must believe in our ability to reinvent ourselves,” said the UFC president. “We must exercise our right and duty to denounce, criticize, and propose to the Transition president our approach and vision to make this transition a success.” A leading figure in this coalition, Louis Gaston Mayila, assured that Joachim Mbatchi Pambou has set the tone for this group, which intends to play its part, including in the National Dialogue. “We are going to form the new opposition now. We are not done yet,” he declared.
Read the original article(French) on Gabon Review
