Gabonese police forces patrol as they clear barricades in the streets adjacent to the National Assembly, in Libreville, on September 1, 2016.
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Around 1 a.m. Thursday, soldiers in green berets identifying them as the presidential guard shot live rounds during an attack on Ping’s opposition headquarters, injuring at least 20 people, according to Paul Marie Gondjout, an opposition electoral representative who was there.
“Democracy doesn’t sit well with an attack on parliament”, Bongo said Thursday.
A government spokesman said the operation was to root out “criminals” who had set fire to parliament.
Spokesman John Kirby, briefing reporters Thursday, said the U.S. State Department was in contact with the government of Gabon in the wake of the elections and said the results are “provisional” because they have not yet been certified.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Alban Kumb Kumb, told News 24 that there was overwhelming evidence that the ruling party had manipulated votes to ensure that the Bongo family continued their reign over the country.
Bongo won this election with 49.8 percent of the vote, while Ping had 48.23 percent. The turnout was 59.46 percent, according to the results announced by Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya.
Bongo took office in 2009, succeeding his father Omar Bongo, who died after 42 years in power.
Bongo’s main rival, 73-year-old Jean Ping was a former foreign minister and the chairman of the African Union Commission (AUC). It’s ridiculous what is happening in our country because a few days back Jean Ping, the real elected president of our country, was leading by over 65 000 votes, but the government readjusted a lot of numbers.
The US and European Union have also called for the results to be made public while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged calm.
Former colonial ruler France’s foreign ministry said the way in which the results were announced was a source of concern.
France and the United States also called for individual polling station results to be published.
In remarks made before the results were released, the EU’s observer mission criticized a “lack of transparency” among the institutions running the polls and said Bongo had benefited from preferential access to money and media.
Supporters of Jean Ping demonstrate in front of security forces after incumbent Ali Bongo claimed election victory. Gabon is the ninth oil exporter in the continent, pumping 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
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Gabon’s biggest sports star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang confirmed on Thursday that he will be representing the national team in this weekens’ friendly against Sudan in spite of overnight rioting which resulted in 1000 arrests after Ali Bongo was controversially re-elected as the nation’s president.
