G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro
The two-day summit of G20 heads of state and government ended on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Under Brazil’s presidency and under the motto ‘Building a just world and a sustainable planet’, the African Union (AU) also took part as a member for the first time, having been admitted to the group at the last summit in 2023. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva focussed on the topics of social inclusion and combating hunger and poverty, reform of global governance institutions, sustainable development and the energy transition – topics that also made it into the summit’s final declaration. The Global Alliance to End Hunger and Poverty was launched on Monday. In addition to the G20 countries – with the exception of Argentina – a total of 81 countries as well as international organisations and institutions are involved in the alliance. These include the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which will provide 25 billion US dollars for the initiative. Specifically, the alliance envisages programmes such as cash transfers, school meals with locally grown food and better access to microfinance, the formal financial system and social security – based on Brazil’s measures to combat poverty and hunger during Lula’s first term of office. The alliance will be based at the World Food Programme (FIA) in Rome and will be chaired by representatives from Brazil, China, Germany, the UK, Norway, South Africa and Bangladesh as well as international organisations. Lula received much praise for the alliance, especially from non-governmental organisations. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa also reiterated that South Africa fully supports Brazil in the fight and will make the issue of food security a priority during its G20 presidency in 2025. The reform demands for the UN Security Council were strongly supported by both South Africa and the African Union (AU). The Security Council should become ‘more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable’ in order to ensure better representation of the previously underrepresented or unrepresented regions within Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Lula’s ambitious plan to agree on the introduction of a global billionaire’s tax of 2% failed. The proposal, which according to estimates would generate annual revenues of around 250 billion US dollars and was supported by France, Spain and South Africa, among others, was already rejected at the G20 meeting of finance ministers in July. The final document merely states that they will work closely together to ensure that the ultra-rich are taxed effectively. Nevertheless, this is the first time that the issue of a billionaire’s tax has been discussed on the G20 stage. The summit of leading industrialised and emerging countries achieved only a minimal consensus on climate protection. Although the G20 heads of state and government recognised the need for climate financing in the billions (US dollars) for low-income countries, the question of how this need should be met remained unanswered. Furthermore, there is no mention of the need to move away from fossil fuels. In their final declaration, the G20 only commits to the Paris climate goals and refers to the resolutions of the COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, which ends today.
Similarly, only a minimal consensus could be found on the topics of Ukraine and the Middle East. There was no majority in favour of condemning the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the final document only referred to ‘the human suffering and the negative impact of the war on food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth’. With regard to the Middle East conflict, the final declaration states that it is concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the escalation in Lebanon and calls for the expansion of humanitarian aid and the protection of the civilian population. It also reaffirms the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and emphasises that it will “unwaveringly” support a two-state solution.
In addition to geopolitical tensions, the G20 summit was overshadowed above all by the election of Donald Trump as the next US president. Under Trump, the USA is expected to withdraw from the climate agreement and impose punitive tariffs on other countries, including a tariff of ‘60 per cent on everything from China and tariffs of 10 to 20 per cent on all other imports’, which also limits the significance of the decisions made at the G20 summit. At the official conclusion of the summit, Lula recognised the historical, cultural, political and economic values that unite the African continent and Latin America and handed over the G20 presidency to South Africa. The one-year presidency will officially begin on 1 December.
Gabon approves new constitution
Last Saturday, the people of Gabon approved a new constitution in a referendum. According to preliminary results, 91.8% of voters voted in favour of the draft constitution, as announced by Gabonese Interior Minister Hermann Immongault. Voter turnout was 53.54%, with a total of 868,115 people registered to vote. The final results are to be announced by the Constitutional Court in the coming weeks. The new constitution provides for a transformation of the parliamentary system into a presidential one, in which the post of prime minister is abolished and the president exercises sole executive power. This means that the cabinet is no longer accountable to parliament, but to the president. In future, the president will be supported by two vice presidents, one of whom will coordinate the work of the government.
The President’s term of office is limited to seven years with a maximum of one re-election – currently a term of office is only five years, but without a term limit. This part of the constitution is unchangeable. Furthermore, relatives and descendants of the head of state may not inherit the presidency. To be eligible to run for the office of president, a person must have at least one parent born in Gabon and a Gabonese spouse. This means that both former President Ali Bongo, who inherited the presidency from his father and is married to a French woman, and his children are excluded from running for president in the future. Further changes concern electoral law and marriage legislation. For example, direct universal suffrage is to be introduced and marriage is to be defined as a binding union between two people of different sexes.
The new constitution has been criticised by the opposition and trade unions. They criticise the centralisation of executive power with the president and the abolition of the parliament’s vote of no confidence. According to the new constitution, the president can dissolve parliament once after the first 24 months of his term of office. Impeachment for high treason or abuse of office is only possible with a two-thirds majority in parliament. The President also takes over the leadership of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The adoption of the new constitution is part of a comprehensive political transformation process that dates back to the fall of President Ali Bongo’s government in August 2023 (Press Review CW 35/2024). Bongo had ruled the country since 2009, after his father Omar Bongo had been in power for 41 years. The coup, led by senior military officers under the current interim president and Bongo’s cousin General Brice Oligui Nguema, was justified as a response to a severe institutional, political, economic and social crisis. The draft constitution is based on the recommendations of the National Dialogue, which took place from 2-30 April this year and was attended by 580 participants from politics, the military and civil society. While the transitional government emphasised that it had ensured the inclusivity of the constitutionalisation process through the participation of representatives from various political parties, military bodies, church communities and civil society organisations, opposition groups and civil society organisations accused Nguema of inviting 100 high-ranking military officers and around 250 people who were loyal to the overthrown Bongo regime to the National Dialogue in order to strengthen his power.
The adoption of the constitution paves the way for new elections, which are planned for August 2025 and are intended to initiate the transition to a civilian government. The new constitution does not rule out a candidacy by interim President Nguema, who has promised to put power back in the hands of the civilian population but has clear presidential ambitions himself.
In other news
The Eritrean-Swedish journalist Dawit Isaak was honoured with the Swedish Edelstam Prize in Stockholm on Tuesday. The foundation, named after the Swedish diplomat Harald Edelstam, honoured the 60-year-old’s ‘extraordinary courage’ in his commitment to press freedom and freedom of speech. He was arrested in Eritrea in 2001 after his newspaper Setit called for democratic reforms in the country. Born in Eritrea, Dawit fled the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict in 1985 at the age of 21 to Sweden, where he later gained citizenship. After Eritrea’s independence, he returned to his home country in 1993, where he co-founded the free, independent daily newspaper Setit. As a journalist, he worked tirelessly for truth, accountability and a free press in Eritrea until he was arrested without trial in 2001. In addition to Dawit, around two dozen other people, including high-ranking politicians and independent journalists – the so-called G15 group – were arrested as part of a comprehensive repression by the Eritrean government. Dawit was briefly released in 2005, but was arrested again on the same day. Since then, the Eritrean government has not released any information about his whereabouts or his state of health. His daughter Bethlehem, who accepted the award on his behalf in Stockholm, stated in 2020 that she had reliable information that her father was still alive. The Edelstam Prize has been awarded every two years since 2012 to honour outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one’s convictions and defending human rights.