Gabon’s opposition presidential candidate Jean Ping has claimed victory over incumbent President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the oil-rich African nation for almost half a century.
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“We’ll see how the candidates react”.
Several people were killed, buildings looted, a ceasefire imposed and the French consulate in the economic capital Port-Gentil torched.
While Bongo is the son of Omar Bongo, a long time ruler of the country.
In 2009, Bongo won with 41.73 percent.
In a statement, the European Union delegation in Libreville said it “congratulated the Gabonese voters for expressing their will for democracy”, though it said the vote has “lacked transparency”.
“We are confidently waiting and I want to say big thank you to everyone; be confident great things await us”, Ali Bongo told his supporters at his campaign headquarters.
Hours before Ping’s announcement, Bongo’s spokesman made a similar declaration, claiming that the president was poised to win another term in office.
But with state machinery and entrenched patronage networks behind him, Bongo, 57, was likely to be returned to power seven years after winning his first election following the death of his father Omar, who ruled for 42 years.
“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 insane”.
The campaign ahead of this weekend’s election has been highly acrimonious, with both sides having accused each other of trying to buy voter cards, in some cases for as little as 10,000 Central African francs (15.25 euros, $17) a piece.
But protracted negotiations led key challengers to pull out and back Ping, with the last of them withdrawing only last week.
Ping described Bongo’s attempts to diversify the economy away from oil as window dressing.
Both candidates have promised to break with the past.
Gabon does not have a runoff system, meaning whoever gets the largest share of Saturday’s vote will be the victor.
Declining oil output and falling prices have resulted in budget cuts in recent years, however, providing fodder for opposition claims that average Gabonese have struggled under his leadership.
While victory for the opposition would end almost 50 years of one-family rule in Gabon, it would not be a total break with the Bongo era – Ping worked for many years in the administration of Omar Bongo.
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.
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“As his son, it is hard to present yourself as something new and technocratic when the whiff of corruption hangs over from the last administration”, said Anthony Goldman, head of West Africa-focused PM Consulting.
