Election in brief

1.4m population 600,000 registered voters 810 candidates 120 seats

The PDG is likely to be left in complete control of the country's parliament but an opposition boycott campaign has provided at least some irritation for Mr Bongo.

Responding to reports of ballot boxes being burned in the southern towns of Moabi, Ndend and Mbigou, he warned that opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou would be liable for prosecution if it was shown that he was behind the incidents.

Mr Mambundo's party, the Union of Gabonese People, has denounced the elections as being stage-managed and fraudulent.

He lost to Mr Bongo in Gabon's last presidential election three years ago, winning just 17% of the national vote.

Having reluctantly introduced a multi-party system in 1990, Mr Bongo has allowed the opposition little room for manoeuvre, and he and the PDG have won a series of resounding election victories.

Mr Bongo's political tactics have brought mild rebukes from watchdogs outside the country, but Gabon's leader has rarely faced the kind of sustained attacks directed at some of his neighbours.

He has helped deflect criticism by presenting himself as a regional peacemaker, mediating on occasion in the conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo - though without any notable success.