Gabon’s president is looking to extend his family’s rule of the central African nation past the 50-year mark by winning a second term in an election Saturday.
Ali Bongo Ondimba took power in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the oil-producing country of about 1.5 million people for more than 40 years.
His strongest opposition comes from Jean Ping, a former chair of the African Union Commission who managed to get several other high-profile opposition figures to support his candidacy.
But there are still a total of nine challengers in the race and Gabon does not have a runoff system, meaning Bongo does not have to top 50 percent to secure re-election.