Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967, sought a five-year term against twelve other candidates.

However, the main opposition leader, Paul Mba Abessole, alleged fraud, claimed victory, and threatened to form a rival government.

Riots in 1994 practically brought the country to a standstill until Bongo agreed to attend a peace conference with opposition groups in September 1994, in which a coalition government was formed until the 1996 parliamentary election, which Bongo's Gabonese Democratic Party won by a landslide.

[1] Bongo was supported by the "New Alliance", a coalition that included the Association for Socialism in Gabon, the Circle of Liberal Reformers, the Gabonese Socialist Union and the People's Unity Party.

[2] Based on exit polling at the time of the election, the news organization Reuters placed Bongo's share of the vote at about 37%.