West Africa
Shortly after the elections: the military overthrows the government in Gabon
On the Gabon 24 channel, soldiers and police officers announced, among other things, that they would cancel last weekend’s presidential and parliamentary elections and dissolve “all the institutions of the republic.”
© Gabon 24 / AFP
Only at the weekend were elections held in the West African state of Gabon. Now proclaim the “end of the current regime”.
The military justified the step with the “irresponsible, unpredictable governance” that has led to a “continuous decline in social cohesion” that threatens to plunge the country “into chaos”. They stated that they spoke for the “Committee on Transition and Institutional Restoration”.
Journalists from the AFP news agency reported shots in the capital, Libreville.
Elections in Gabon: President Ali Bongo Ondimba had declared himself the winner
Presidential and parliamentary elections took place in Gabon on Saturday. Before the televised speech by the military, the electoral commission had announced the victory of the incumbent, longtime head of state, Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Bongo was seeking his third term in office, continuing his family’s more than 50-year rule in a country where, despite oil wealth, most of the population lives in poverty. He took over the post in 2009 from his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled from 1967 until his death. On Saturday, 850,000 of the approximately 2.3 million residents were called to vote. Bongo only won a first re-election in 2016 by a good 5,000 votes. He was accused of manipulation. Serious riots broke out as a result.
Internet and curfew
The government shut down internet access over the weekend, imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. and banned several French radio stations from broadcasting.
A government spokesman justified the blocking of the Internet by saying that “false information” and “calls for violence” were to be combated. The responsible authority accused the broadcasters France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde of “a lack of objectivity and balance in the reporting of the current general elections”. The election was also marked by the absence of international observers. Requests for accreditation from foreign journalists were systematically rejected.