A gaggle of Gabonese troopers announced on public tv Wednesday that they’d seized management of the nation and canceled the outcomes of its 2023 presidential election, simply after incumbent President Ali Bongo was declared the winner amid claims of electoral fraud. The troopers, a part of the newly fashioned Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Establishments (CTRI), additionally declared the closure of Gabon’s borders and the suspension of the nation’s Senate, Nationwide Meeting and Constitutional Court docket.
In accordance with the election outcomes, Bongo received 64.27 p.c of the vote whereas opponent Albert Ondo Ossa garnered 30.77 p.c. The elections had been marred by accusations of fraud from Onda Ossa. The federal government additionally imposed an web blackout after Saturday’s elections and suspended three French information channels for “a scarcity of objectivity and steadiness.” Bongo was additionally the goal of fraud accusations in 2016 after he gained that yr’s presidential election.
The troopers’ announcement comes one month after fellow former French colony Niger underwent a coup in July, by which President Mohammed Bazoum was overthrown by members of Niger’s presidential guard. Niger’s coup got here alongside an increase of anti-French sentiment within the nation, with pro-coup protesters carrying indicators with slogans resembling “France should depart” and “Down with France lengthy reside Putin.” Niger’s junta has additionally ordered the French ambassador to go away the nation.
Gabon final underwent a coup try in 2019 after Bongo suffered a stroke. Nonetheless, the try failed and resulted within the deaths of two pro-coup troopers and the arrest of eight others. The final profitable coup in Gabon occurred in 1964, lower than six years after the nation’s independence.
Ali Bongo is the son of former Gabonese President Omar Bongo, who dominated the nation from 1967 to 2009. Omar Bongo was known for his shut relations with France and for amassing an unlimited quantity of non-public wealth whereas president.
This can be a quickly creating scenario.
