LIBREVILLE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- More than 900,000 Gabonese voters went to the polls on Saturday for legislative and local elections aimed at ending the transitional institutions established after the Aug. 30, 2023 coup.

In Libreville, the country's capital, voting started with a slight delay due to early morning rain. By 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), voters were already lining up in front of polling stations.

A total of 145 seats in the National Assembly are being contested, including two reserved for Gabonese living abroad, one for those in Africa and another for those in the rest of the world.

The local elections will also select municipal and departmental councilors, who will indirectly elect 70 senators, as well as mayors and presidents of departmental assemblies.

The main parties in the race include the Gabonese Democratic Party, the former ruling party, and the Democratic Union of Builders, founded recently by President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.

Polling stations are scheduled to close at 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), with counting to begin immediately in the presence of observers and the press, Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said. He pledged that the elections would be free, credible, and transparent.

A second round election is scheduled for Oct. 11 in constituencies where no candidate secures an absolute majority in the first round. ■