as fraudulent, Mba Abessole declared himself President and appointed RNB First Secretary Pierre-André Kombila as Prime Minister. His house in Libreville, along with the opposition radio station Radio Liberty, was destroyed by the Presidential Guard in February 1994, and he went to Paris. In March 1994, Prime Minister Casimir Oye Mba offered to include the RNB in the government, but Mba Abessole rejected the offer. He also refused to participate in the government of Prime Minister Paulin Obame-Nguema, which was formed after the signing of the Paris Accords between the government and the opposition in October 1994. The RNB won the late 1996 municipal election in Libreville, and Mba Abessole was then elected as Mayor of Libreville by the city councillors on 19 January 1997; he received 68 out of 98 votes. Mba Abessole also stood in the December 1996 parliamentary election as a candidate in the fifth arrondissement of Libreville, but he was defeated by Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane. Prior to the December 1998 presidential election, Kombila was expelled from the party in July 1998, leading Kombila's supporters to form their own faction and nominate Kombila as their presidential candidate later in the month. Mba Abessole, who continued to lead the other faction, accused Kombila of "treachery and indiscipline". Mba Abessole was officially designated as his faction's presidential candidate at an extraordinary congress in Libreville in early October 1998. He was considered the most best-known opposition leader in Gabon; however, his credibility as an opposition leader was thought to have suffered, and it was believed that the RNB split would have a negative impact on his candidacy. In the election, he took third place with 13.16% of the vote, according to official results; Bongo won an overwhelming majority, while Pierre Mamboundou, who was perceived as a more radical opposition leader than Mba Abessole, placed second. Mba Abessole defeated Jean Eyeghe Ndong for a seat in the National Assembly in the December 2001 parliamentary election, and on January 27, 2002 he was appointed to the government as Minister of State for Human Rights. He was subsequently promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Rural Development, in charge of Human Rights, on January 21, 2003. Later, his portfolio was modified and he was named Deputy Prime Minister for Transport, Civil Aviation, and Human Rights. On April 23, 2004, Mba Abessole joined the Presidential Majority, the alliance