PARIS, Sept 7 Gabon’s re-elected President Ali Bongo, who has come under worldwide scrutiny following his razor-thin election win last week, said on Wednesday that if electoral fraud was committed it was by his opponent Jean Ping.
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“I can not violate the (electoral) law”, he insisted.
France had joined the European Union and the United States in calling for the results to be published according to each polling station but, until now, had stopped short of demanding a recount.
Accused of cheating at the polls in Gabon, re-elected President Ali Bongo turned the tables on Wednesday, saying that if electoral fraud was committed it was by his challenger Jean Ping.
At least six people have died in riots in Libreville and other cities since the result of the August 27 election was announced last Wednesday, giving Bongo victory by around 5,000 votes.
Ping, also speaking to Europe-1, dismissed the accusations and called for global help in determining “the truth”. “As far as a recount is concerned. that’s done at the level of the Constitutional Court”.
Gabon’s re-elected President Ali Bongo is not letting anything in his way of progress.He has now dismissed global calls for a recount of last week’s disputed vote, saying it was a matter for the constitutional court to decide.
According to BBC, Mr Bongo was declared the victor by a narrow margin last Wednesday, but the opposition say the poll was fraudulent.
Gabon’s Justice Minister Seraphim Moundounga resigned from his post on Monday amid mass protests concerning last week’s disputed presidential election results.
Other provinces had a turnout between 45 percent and 71 percent.
Other reports put the death toll at least six. “But it is hard to work with those who asked the Gabonese people to go into the streets and loot”.
Ping has said the number of votes cast in southeastern Haut-Ogooue province were inflated to give victory to Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil-producing country for nearly half a century.
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.
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A main opposition complaint is that Gabon’s oil wealth has not been shared fairly among its 1.8 million population.
