Further stoking hostilities between the PDG and the UN, on December 28th parliament approved controversial constitutional amendments proposed by the government in October. The reforms were passed by an overwhelming majority of 177 votes to 16, a margin that reflects the tiny representation of opposition parties in the legislature. Many of the changes are uncontroversial and aimed at resolving ambiguities, but several amendments have elicited strong protest from the opposition. The president of the UN party, Zacharie Myboto, declared that the constitutional reforms should have been put to referendum and that they "opened the door to dictatorship".

Although such alarmism is unjustified, there are some valid grounds for concern. In particular, the UN has objected to the new provision to suspend polls in the event of natural catastrophes or the threat of war on the grounds that the decision to defer a ballot could be taken under the influence of a government keen to prolong its mandate. Also troubling were new rules debarring candidates in presidential elections who have not lived in Gabon in the last 12 months or who have ever held an administrative or political post in another country. However, the opposition's main gripe is that the package of reforms did not include its own wish list, which includes the not unreasonable return of term limits on presidents and second-round run-off ballots in presidential elections. Both of these were suspended under the rule of the previous president, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who was the father of the incumbent.