LIBREVILLE, 26 June, 2021 (TON): On Friday, President Ali Bongo Ondimba called for the support of MPs and senators not to let Gabon's "unity" disintegrate.

The President spoke in his first speech to parliament in five years and two years and eight months after a serious stroke.

"In a 15-minute speech, Mr. Bongo made general remarks and recalled the actions taken by his government and the laws passed over the past two years, but without any concrete announcements.

"To complete this vast movement that we have initiated, I resolutely need your support and your confidence," he said to the deputies and senators.

"I have to make difficult choices on a daily basis", he said, referring to the very strict measures taken over the past year to combat Covid-19, in particular a curfew that is now dragging on and is strongly criticized.

But "we can congratulate ourselves, Gabon is often cited as a reference on the continent for its rigorous management of the health crisis," said the head of state.

However, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was elected in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had ruled the small oil-rich central African country for nearly 42 years and in 2016  he was re-elected.