Gabon’s President Ali Bongo said Sunday that he is “calmly” waiting for the result of the country’s presidential election to be published, after his rival Jean Ping claimed victory following Saturday’s vote.
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The official tally of votes will not be published until Tuesday, August 30, and some voters voiced fears of a repeat of the violence seen after a disputed 2009 election.
“We can confirm that our candidate, Ali Bongo Ondimba, will win.we are already on our way to a second mandate”, said Bongo’s spokesman, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, adding that he could not offer exact voting figures at this stage.
Some opposition supporters have also called into question Bongo’s Gabonese nationality by claiming he was adopted from eastern Nigeria as a baby, which the president denies.
On Sunday, the streets of Libreville were deserted and shops and stalls that are usually open were closed.
“We know the other side is trying to cheat”.
Addressing Ping’s declaration, Bongo warned his rival against pre-empting the result by claiming victory before an official announcement.
“We want to get the results soon”, said a man in Libreville called Honore.
“Ali Bongo has made a decision to ignore the election and to stay in power”, said Ayi.
Ping, 73, said that he declared himself victor to prevent 57-year-old President Bongo from manipulating the results.
“That’s totally insane”, countered Bongo’s spokesman.
Ping faces an uphill struggle, not least because Gabon’s one-round system means the victor doesn’t need a majority, just more votes than any other candidate.
A former foreign minister and African Union Commission (AUC) chairman, Ping was a close ally of the incumbent president’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for 42 years until his death in 2009.
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.
He alleged that a decision by the Constitutional Court on Friday allowed soldiers, who traditionally support Bongo, to “vote several times in several polling centres”.
Bongo’s victory in 2009 sparked looting and clashes between protesters and security forces.
Emmanuel Edzang, a voter in Libreville, said the capital had the feeling of a “powder keg”.
Despite boasting one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes at $8,300, a third of Gabon’s population live in poverty.
Several people were killed, buildings looted, a ceasefire imposed and the French consulate in Port Gentil torched.
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But Gabon faces a financial squeeze owing to a long-term decline in oil output – which shrunk GDP per capita by almost a fifth between 1980 and 2014, according to the United Nations Development Programme – and a sharp fall in the price of crude over the past two years.
