10/30/2022Da Silva wins presidency10/28/2018Bolsonaro elected president09/30/2016Rousseff impeached; Michel Temer assumes presidency09/14/2016Prosecutors file corruption charges against Lula da Silva04/18/2016The House of Representatives impeaches Dilma Rousseff09/07/2014Effects of corruption scandal Operation Car Wash widespread in the government08/18/2011Corruption accusations affecting Rousseff’s administration10/31/2010Dilma Rousseff elected president10/30/2006Lula da Silva wins second term as president06/04/2005Corruption scandal known as Operation Car Wash impacting government10/27/2002Lula da Silva elected president11/13/1998IMF agrees to $41.3 billion bailout for Brazil09/03/1994Fernando Cardoso elected president
06/18/2021Ebrahim Raisi elected president01/02/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian05/08/2019Iran ends some aspects of nuclear agreement04/08/2019US adds sanctions on Iran
10/13/2022New heads of state01/02/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian10/02/2018Abdul Mahdi named prime minister12/08/2017Iraq declares victory over the Islamic State
10/31/2021Ruling coalition retains majority09/29/2021Kishida to be prime minister08/25/2020Abe resigns for health reasons07/21/2019Abe reelected with reduced majority
08/01/2021General assumes prime ministership02/01/2021Military resumes control11/09/2020Suu Kyi’s party claims election win10/10/2016Outburst of violence between government and Rohingya Muslim minority
04/07/2022Hadi transfers powers01/05/2021Qatar blockade ended10/09/2018Disappearance of journalist leads to international attention11/04/2017Anti-corruption crackdown
10/24/2023New government formed01/07/2020Sanchez re-elected prime minister04/28/2019Socialists win plurality06/01/2018Socialists eject Rajoy and take control of government
01/03/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian12/18/2018US announces withdrawal of troops from Syria09/04/2018Assault on Idlib09/26/2016Government attempt to retake Aleppo.09/09/2016Ceasefire08/24/2016Turkish troops enter Syria.08/23/2016Kurdish truce with Syria.09/30/2015Russia enters war.09/10/2014US bombing Islamic State in Syria01/24/2014Geneva peace conference 201409/25/2013Islamic State increasing in Syria08/20/2013Government accused of using chemical weapons03/18/2011Beginning of unrest in Syria that leads to civil war05/21/2008Negotiations with Israel about Golan Heights05/29/2007Bashar al-Assad re-elected10/28/2005Preliminary UN report on Syrian responsibility for murder of Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri03/06/2005Syrian intelligence officers begin to leave Lebanon06/09/2000Hafez al-Assad dies11/12/1970Hafez al-Assad takes power
11/21/2021Ruling party reelected12/07/2020Ruling oalition wins legislature01/05/2020Chaos in National Assembly election08/18/2017Constitutional assembly assumes the powers of the legislature.12/06/2015Opposition wins legislature
Coup leader General Brice Oligui Nguema says he will not accept the presidential salary, though he has designated himself interim president.
09/20/2023
Bongo’s son and several of his former cabinet ministers are jailed, accused of “high treason” and “active corruption.”
09/08/2023
Oligui meets with newly appointed prime minister Raymond Ndong Sima, an economist and former prime minister under Bongo who subsequently became opposed to Bongo.
09/07/2023
Coup says that Ali Bongo is free to leave the country. His sons and his wife have been arrested for corruption and “high treason.”
09/07/2023
Military junta announces that deposed president Bongo has been released from house arrest and is free to travel for medical treatment.
09/04/2023
Coup leader assumes presidency
Leader of the junta General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema is sworn in as president. Oligui, a cousin to Bongo, promises to return power to the people by organizing free, transparent, and credible elections.
08/30/2023
Government announces that Bongo has won the election with 64% of the vote. Challenger Albert Ondo Ossa comes in second place with 30.77%. The opposition says the election has been riddled with fraud.
08/30/2023
Military coup
Soldiers appear on television saying they have taken Bongo into custody, announce the cancellation of election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic.”
08/27/2023
General election, though many polling places open only after long delay. The government has not permitted international observers, has recently cut internet service and has imposed a curfew.
01/09/2023
Ali Bongo Ondimba names Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, a loyalist, the new prime minister and head of government, replacing Rose Christiane Ossuka Raponda, who was named vice-president, the first woman to hold that position.
02/02/2021
Ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (GDP) wins 45 of 52 seats in the Senate. Two seats remain to be filled after second round of voting. President Ali Bongo Ondimba appoints fifteen other senators. The National Assembly is also dominated by the GDP.
07/16/2020
Rose Christiane Raponda becomes the first female Prime Minister of Gabon.
04/28/2020
Prime Minister Julien Nkoghe Bekale announces that some businesses will be allowed to reopen in Libreville and three surrounding communes. Gabon has about 200 cases and three deaths due to COVID-19.
04/13/2020
Gabon institutes stay-at-home order until 4/28. The country has fifty-seven confirmed cases and one death.
03/13/2020
Gabon confirms its first case of COVID-19.
12/05/2019
Nourredin Bongo Valentin, eldest son of Pres Bongo, is given an appointment as assistant to the president.
11/27/2019
Government begins anticorruption arrests. Some are skeptical about its seriousness.
09/02/2019
Reports that Bongo is being treated in London during a trip there, adding to rumors that his stroke was more severe than being described. The government denounces the reports as false.
01/14/2019
Bongo returns to Gabon.
01/12/2019
Bongo names Julien Nkoghe Bekale prime minister, replacing Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet, who has served since 2016.
01/07/2019
Officers of the Republican Guard attempt to take control of the government, but are arrested.
12/10/2018
Vice-president Moussavou says that Bongo suffered a stroke but does not describe his current status.
11/28/2018
Bongo, somewhat recovered, flies to Morocco. Presidential advisors will meet him there.
11/24/2018
Bongo to recuperate in Morocco.
11/16/2018
Constitutional Court amends the constitution to allow the vice-president or prime minister to run cabinet meetings if the president is temporarily unavailable.
11/15/2018
Constitutional Court allows Vice-President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou to chair the Council of Ministers to maintain the continuity of government.
10/28/2018
Pres Bongo in hospital, perhaps in Saudi Arabia, perhaps in London. The government minimizes the condition.
10/14/2018
Gabonese Democratic Party, the ruling party led by Ali Bongo, wins 74 of 143 seats in the first round of voting. Turnout is low.
10/06/2018
First round of legislative elections, its first election since the presidential election 2016, which provoked some violence. Pres Ali Bongo’s ruling party, Gabonese Democratic Party, claims landslide victory and 80 of 143 seats. Opposition leader Jean Ping boycotted the voting.
09/04/2018
China gives Gabon military $3 million.
09/03/2018
France reported to have given Gabon $800 million since 2010.
06/27/2018
Gabon announces new austerity measures.
01/16/2018
Opposition leader Jean Ping arrested on suspicion of conspiracy against the state.
