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Dispute intensifies over Gabon presidential election

“There is no doubt that if the Constitutional Court ignores the reality of the Gabonese vote, the people, who would have nothing left to lose. will take the future into their own hands”, said Ping, who continues to refer to himself as “president-elect”.

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“We have mountains of evidence of tampering from neighboring countries” to help Ping “steal the election”, Moussa-Adamo said.

Ping has previously described the election as fraudulent and has demanded a recount – a call echoed by Manuel Valls, prime minister of Gabon’s former colonial power, France.

Criticism of the poll has focused on Haut-Ogooue, where results showed 95.46% of voters backed Bongo on a turnout of 99.9%, more than double the participation rate of other regions.

Gabon’s president on Wednesday tried to deflect European Union observers’ findings of a voting anomaly in his stronghold province that pushed him over the edge to win re-election, accusing his lead opponent of ballot fraud and a plot to seize power.

The United Nations has urged the opposition to lodge an appeal with the constitutional court before the 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) deadline.

He has alleged the number of votes cast for Bongo in southeastern Haut-Ogooue province was inflated.

“Jean Ping has committed fraud”, Bongo said in a separate interview with Europe 1 radio on Wednesday.

In the chaos following the result, opposition demonstrators clashed with police and the country’s parliament was set on fire.

“Yes, I greatly fear that another false step by the Constitutional Court will be the cause of deep and long-lasting instability in Gabon”, Ping told hundreds of supporters in Libreville.

The government says three people died in the unrest, dismissing some opposition claims that between 50 and 100 people lost their lives.

Haut-Ogooue province is a stronghold of Bongo, whose family has ruled the oil-producing nation for almost a half century.

Asked whether he would accept the court’s ruling if it did examine the results, he said: “I am a democrat”. Gabon’s justice minister has resigned over the government’s refusal to recount the ballots.

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Some 800 people have been arrested in recent days in the capital Libreville, with the authorities accusing them of looting, while lawyers say they are being held in “deplorable” conditions.

Gabonese opposition candidate Jean Ping greets supporters outside his campaign headquarters after proclaiming that he won the presidential election in Libreville