Opposition leader Jean Ping, who has said the election was stolen, on Tuesday called for help from the global community saying, “Everybody knows the result and everybody knows that Bongo is doing everything not to accept it”. He already has declared himself the rightful victor.
Advertisement
According to the electoral commission, there was a 99.93 percent turnout in that province, with 95 percent voting in favor of Bongo. The EU noted that would mean only 47 people in the area would not have voted.
Turnout in the other provinces was between 45 per cent and 71per cent, according to Gabon’s interior ministry.
“France, the European Union as well as the US already called last week on the electoral commission to publish detailed results of all polling stations”.
Pressure from the worldwide community is mounting on Libreville to recount the vote and publish the results from individual 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, as in this case, to face significant worldwide pressure over the election.
It is hard to independently verify reports of any deaths in the postelection violence, as the internet in Gabon has been shut off since August 31.
With Bongo claiming victory by a wafer-thin margin of some 6,000 votes, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls proposed recounting the ballots.
US and France have also called on the government to publish results by individual polling stations.
Gabon’s Justice Minister Seraphim Moundounga resigned from his post on Monday amid mass protests concerning last week’s disputed presidential election results.
Ping, a former diplomat and African Union Commission chairman, said he had been told the delegation would arrive on Thursday.
His rival Jean Ping has called for a general strike and says dozens of his supporters have been killed.
“It is clear that the government is hiding the true toll”, Ntoutoume Ayi said.
Advertisement
Ping also vowed to guarantee complete security for Bongo and his family if he stepped down from the presidency and pledged there would not be a witch hunt once he had departed. It also disputes Bongo’s 2009 election victory shortly after the death of his father, Omar Bongo.
