L’APPLICATION DU DROIT ELECTORAL PAR LE JUGE CONSTITUTIONNEL GABONAIS ET CONGOLAIS: UN RENDEZ-VOUS MANQUE POUR L’ETAT DE DROIT EN AFRIQUE CENTRALE

Abstract

Application of Electoral Law by the Gabonese and Congolese Constitutional Justice: a Missing Appointment for the Rule of Law in Central Africa. This study attempts to describe the partisan and dangerous role that the electoral judge plays in order to regulate the litigations related to the electoral disputes of the presidential and legislative elections in French-speaking Africa and particularly in Gabon and DR Congo. Attention was paid to the litigation of the presidential and legislative elections of 2016 in Gabon and those of 2011 and 2018 in DR Congo. The general economy of the electoral law in the two aforementioned countries, recognizes the competence of the Constitutional Court in the litigations related to presidential and national legislative elections. However, the work of the constitutional courts presented above, really denotes an appointment missed in a state of law, the finding remains mixed with respect to the contribution of the electoral judge in the legitimization of the electoral process and final results. As a result, the judgments of two Courts evoked only amplified post-election violence alongside political speeches fuelled by protests and popular manipulation, which caused massive violations of human rights through a bloody crackdown on protesters, and the endorsement of electoral push in Gabon and the DRC.