A bunch of senior Gabonese navy officers appeared on nationwide tv all through the early hours of Wednesday and stated they’d taken energy, after the state election physique launched President Ali Bongo had gained a 3rd time interval.
Displaying on tv channel Gabon 24, the officers stated they represented all safety and security forces all through the Central African nation. They stated the election outcomes have been canceled, all borders closed till additional uncover and state establishments dissolved.
Loud sounds of gunfire is maybe heard all through the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter stated, after the tv look.
There was no quick remark from the federal authorities of the OPEC-member nation.
“Contained in the title of the Gabonese folks … we’ve determined to defend the peace by placing an finish to the present regime,” the officers stated.
If worthwhile, the coup would signify the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020. Coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger have undermined democratic progress as of late.
Final month, the navy snatched energy in Niger, sending shockwaves all via the Sahel and sucking in world powers with strategic pursuits at stake.
The announcement acquired proper right here merely hours after the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) stated on Wednesday that Bongo had gained all through the presidential election with 64.27% of the vote, after a delay-plagued widespread election that the opposition has denounced as fraudulent.
Saying the top end result all through the early hours, CGE head Michel Stephane Bonda stated Bongo’s needed challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had may be present in second place with 30.77%. Bongo’s crew have rejected Ondo Ossa’s allegations of electoral irregularities.
Tensions are working excessive amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative vote, which seen Bongo on the lookout for to increase his household’s 56-year grip on energy whereas the opposition pushed for change all through the oil-rich nonetheless poverty-stricken Central African nation.
An absence of worldwide observers, the suspension of some worldwide broadcasts, and the authorities’ dedication to chop web service and impose a nighttime curfew nationwide after the ballot has raised considerations concerning the transparency of the electoral course of.
Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009, had contested in path of 18 challengers, six of whom backed a joint nominee, former minister and college professor Albert Ondo Ossa, in an effort to slim the race.
In 2016, the parliament growing was torched when violent freeway protests erupted in path of Bongo’s contested re-election for his second time interval. The federal authorities shut down web entry for loads of days on the time.
Present – Reuters
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