National Woodcutters' Rally – Rally for Gabon

The National Woodcutters Rally–Rally for Gabon (Template:Langx, RNB–RPG) is a political party in Gabon.

History

The party was established in 1990 as Movement for National Rectification–Woodcutters (Mouvement de redressement national–Bûcherons, MORENA–Bûcherons),<ref>Africa South of the Sahara 2004, Europa Publications, p449</ref> a breakaway from the Movement for National Rectification. In the 1990 parliamentary elections it won 20 of the 120 seats in the National Assembly, becoming the largest opposition party. In February 1991 it was renamed "National Woodcutters Rally" (RNB).<ref name=TL>Tom Lansford (2015) Political Handbook of the World 2015, CQ Press</ref>

The RNB nominated Paul Mba Abessole as its candidate for the 1993 presidential elections; He finished second with 26.5% of the vote. Although it won a majority of the contested seats in the 1996 local elections,<ref name=TL/> the party was reduced to seven seats in the 1996 parliamentary elections. However, the following year Mba Abessole was elected mayor of Libreville, where the RNB had a majority on the municipal council.

In 1998 the party split, with a faction led by Pierre-André Kombila leaving to form the National Woodcutters' Rally – Democratic. In the presidential elections later in the year, Mba Abessole finished third with 13% of the vote and Kombila fourth with 1.5%.

In 2000 the party adopted the name "Rally for Gabon", but was referred to as National Woodcutters Rally–Rally for Gabon. In the 2001 parliamentary elections the party gained a seat, giving it a total of eight.

The RNB–RPG did not nominate a candidate for the 2005 presidential elections, and contested the 2006 parliamentary elections as part of the pro-PDG bloc, retaining its eight seats.<ref>Elections in Gabon African Elections Database</ref> Although Mba Abessole was selected as the party's candidate for the 2009 presidential elections, he later withdrew in favour of independent candidate André Mba Obame. The party was reduced to three seats in the 2011 parliamentary elections.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
1993	Paul Mba Abessole	110,747	26.51%	Lost Template:N
1998		41,701	13.16%	Lost Template:N
2005	Did not Participate
2009	Supported André Mba Obame (Ind)	88,026	25.88%	Lost Template:N
2016	Paul Mba Abessole	761	0.21%	Lost Template:N

National Assembly elections

Election	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
1990	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 20	Template:Increase 2nd	Template:No2
1996	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 13	Template:Decrease 3rd	Template:No2
2001	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 1	Template:Increase 2nd	Template:No2
2006	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady	Template:Steady 2nd	Template:No2
2011	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 5	Template:Steady 2nd	Template:No2
2018	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 3	Template:Decrease 14th	Template:Eliminated

Senate elections

Election	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
1997	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 19	Template:Increase 2nd	Template:No2
2003	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 11	Template:Steady 2nd	Template:No2
2009	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 2	Template:Steady 2nd	Template:No2
2014	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 2		Template:Eliminated

See also

• Vincent Essone Mengue