Local media reported that protesters took to the streets of Libreville late Wednesday after poll results showed that president Ali Bongo Ondimba narrowly won re-election in a vote the opposition said was stolen.
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Protests erupted in Gabon’s main cities last week after the electoral commission announced that Bongo won the election with 49.8 percent of the vote against 48.2 percent for opposition leader Jean Ping.
Even after the vote result in the other provinces had been settled, electoral commission members fiercely debated the count for Haut-Ogooue, the heartland of Bongo’s Teke ethnic group, before the incumbent was declared the victor on Wednesday.
Opposition leader Jean Ping says the election was stolen, with the number of votes cast in Haut-Ogooue inflated to give victory to Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil-producing country for nearly half a century.
He said “common sense would command a recount of the ballots”.
“France, the European Union as well as the USA already called last week on the electoral commission to publish detailed results of all polling stations”.
Opposition parties in Africa frequently say votes are rigged, but the results are rarely overturned and it is unusual for a president once declared victor to face significant global pressure over the election.
Chad’s President Idriss Deby, one of Africa’s longest-ruling presidents who now holds the chair of the pan-African body, would likely to lead the talks, he added.
“I expect the high-level delegation to be dispatched very soon”, African Union spokesman Jacob Enoh Eben said.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called for a recount [RFI report] on Tuesday and for information concerning 15 French nationals that went missing after the protests.
“About 15 French citizens are now missing in Gabon, many of whom carry dual citizenship”.
Ping, a former diplomat and African Union Commission chairman, said he had been told the delegation would arrive on Thursday.
Ping said on Tuesday that between 50 to 100 people were killed since last week in Libreville.
The move came the same day the opposition party called for a general strike, though some returned to work.
Parliament resumed on Tuesday, with lawmakers gathering in the Senate building looking sombre. But it has ruled out intervening in Gabon, where it has a military base.
More than 1,000 people have been detained in the unrest.
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United Nations human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday they were following the situation in Gabon with “increased concern”.
