Violence fears as Gabon rivals claim poll victory

Gabonese opposition leader Jean Ping (centre) gestures to calm down his supporters outside his party headquarters in Libreville on August 28, 2016. Ping said on August 28, 2016, he had won a presidential election, beating the incumbent Omar Bongo. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The streets of Libreville were deserted with shops and stalls that are usually open shuttered.
  • France’s ruling Socialist Party issued a statement saying a change of government after decades of Bongo rule “would be a sign of good democratic health”.
  • Incumbent Ali Bongo’s camp said the victory call was “dangerous and illegal” before official results.
  • Mr Bongo, 57, has been in power since the 2009 election held after the death of his father, Omar, who ruled Gabon for 41 years.

LIBREVILLE

Gabon’s capital, Libreville, on Monday had the feeling of a “powder keg” after the main opposition candidate Jean Ping claimed victory in weekend presidential polls.

The streets of Libreville were deserted with shops and stalls that are usually open shuttered.

The embassy of former colonial power France warned its citizens not to travel within the country unless absolutely necessary and to keep themselves informed.

France’s ruling Socialist Party meanwhile issued a statement saying a change of government after decades of Bongo rule “would be a sign of good democratic health”.

In Libreville, a man who gave his name as Honore said: “We want to get the results soon.

“We’ll see how the candidates react. I hope it won’t be like last time.”

Back then, several people were killed in the clashes, buildings were looted and the French consulate in Port Gentil, which saw the worst of the violence, was torched.

Incumbent Ali Bongo’s camp said the victory call was “dangerous and illegal” before official results.

“We respect the law... so we are waiting calmly for Cenap (the national election commission) to announce the results of the election,” President Bongo told supporters in his first public remarks since Saturday’s poll.

RETAIN POWER BY FORCE

Mr Ping’s campaign coordinator, Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, claimed that President Bongo would attempt to retain power by force. “Ali Bongo has decided to ignore the election and to stay in power,” said Mr Ayi.

“This is the situation which we are entering: the election is over, the coup d’etat has started.”

Bongo’s camp has dismissed such claims as “totally crazy”.

Mr Bongo, 57, has been in power since the 2009 election held after the death of his father, Omar, who ruled Gabon for 41 years.

A career diplomat, Mr Ping, like the current president, worked for many years in Omar Bongo’s administration. He has also served as head of the African Union and president of the UN General Assembly.

After claiming the poll win, Mr Ping met France’s ambassador shortly afterwards, his team said.

They also said that he had beaten President Bongo 60-to-40 in the 60 per cent of ballots that had been counted. It was impossible to immediately verify the claim. Both frontrunners had already predicted victory and accused the other of cheating.

Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president’s spokesman said: “Bongo will win... we are already on our way to a second mandate.”
But earlier this month, the main challengers pulled out and said they would all back Mr Ping.

Both candidates have promised to break with the past.

REPEATED CHARGES

Faced with repeated charges of nepotism, Mr Bongo has long insisted he owes his presidency to merit and years of government service.

His extravagant campaign made much of the slogan “Let’s change together”, and of roads and hospitals built during his first term.

Mr Ping faces a constant struggle, most famously because Gabon’s one-round system means the champion does not require a majority, but instead just more votes than every other candidate. In 2009, Bongo won with only 41.73 per cent from the election.

Mr Ping has described Bongo’s attempts to diversify the economy away from oil as window dressing.

One third of Gabon’s population lives in poverty, despite the country boasting one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes at $8,300 (7,400 euros) thanks to pumping 200,000 barrels of oil a day.

Gabon faces an economic squeeze because of a lengthy-term loss of oil output — which reduced GDP per person by nearly a fifth between 1980 and 2014, based on the UN Development Programme — along with a sharp fall within the cost of crude in the last 2 years. Efforts to broaden into agriculture and tourism haven’t yet born much fruit.

Throughout Omar Bongo’s rule, Gabon was a pillar of “La Francafrique”, a complicated, shadowy web of diplomacy, commerce and French military might that stored African autocrats in power and gave French companies fortunate use of them.

“As (Omar Bongo’s) boy, it is not easy to provide yourself as new things and technocratic once the whiff of corruption dangles over in the last administration,” stated Anthony Goldman, a Libreville-based political analyst.