[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 518 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 518

          Calling for free and transparent elections in Gabon.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1998

  Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
   Dixon, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Sanford, and Ms. 
McKinney) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
          Calling for free and transparent elections in Gabon.

Whereas Gabon is a heavily forested and oil-rich country on central Africa's 
        west coast;
Whereas Gabon gained independence from France in 1960;
Whereas Gabon is scheduled to hold national elections in December 1998 for the 
        purpose of electing a President;
Whereas the Government of Gabon has been subject to single-party rule for a 
        significant period of its recent history and only 1 person has held the 
        office of the President since 1967;
Whereas the Freedom House Survey of World Freedom, 1997-1998, determined that 
        ``Gabon's citizens have never been able to exercise their constitutional 
        right to change their government democratically'';
Whereas the International Foundation of Electoral Systems (IFES) and the 
        National Democratic Institute (NDI) served as observers during the 1993 
        Presidential and legislative elections in Gabon and found widespread 
        electoral irregularities;
Whereas the Government of Gabon is a signatory to the ``Paris Accords'' of 1994, 
        approved by national referendum in July 1995, which were to have 
        provided for a state of law guaranteeing basic individual freedoms and 
        the organization of free and fair elections under a new independent 
        national election commission;
Whereas the people of Gabon have demonstrated their support for the democratic 
        process through the formation of numerous political parties since 1990 
        and their strong participation in prior elections; and
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to promote political and 
        economic freedom in Africa and throughout the world: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes and commends those Gabonese who have 
        demonstrated their love for free and fair elections;
            (2) calls on the Gabonese Government--
                    (A) to take measures to help ensure a credible 
                election and to ensure that the election commission 
                remains independent and impartial; and
                    (B) to invite the International Foundation of 
                Electoral Systems (IFES), the National Democratic 
                Institute, the International Republic Institute, or 
                other appropriate international nongovernmental 
                organizations to organize and supervise the December 
                1998 Presidential election in Gabon, assuring that 
                these elections in Gabon are free and fair;
            (3) urges the Government of Gabon to take all necessary and 
        lawful steps toward conducting free and fair elections;
            (4) calls on the international community to join the United 
        States in offering their assistance toward free and fair 
        elections;
            (5) urges the United States to provide support directly and 
        through appropriate nongovernmental organizations for the 
        organization of free and fair elections in Gabon;
            (6) calls on the United States to work with the 
        international community in urging the Government of Gabon to 
        create the conditions necessary to guarantee free and fair 
        elections; and
            (7) urges the United States Government and the 
        international community to continue to encourage the Government 
        of Gabon to ensure a lasting and committed transition to 
        democracy.
                                 <all>