“I can not violate the law”, said Bongo in a pre-recorded interview for France’s RTL radio, aired Wednesday.
Advertisement
Opposition leader Ping has said the vote was stolen by Bongo.
European Union observers have said it lacked transparency.
In 2009, Bongo was declared victor of the presidential election following the death of his father, Omar, who had ruled the tiny oil-rich state for 41 years.
“There needs to be a clear electoral process”, Valls told RTL radio.
Election commission results showed Mr. Bongo beat opposition contender Jean Ping in Gabon’s August 27 presidential vote by 1.57 percentage points. He is calling for a recount – something the Gabonese authorities have so far refused to do.
“They say that the former minister, of all people, should know. that the law says that aggrieved party. needs to go to the Constitutional Court, file a petition, and only the Constitutional Court can order a recount”.
Official results gave turnout in the province at more than 99 percent, with 95 percent backing the incumbent.
He said an Ivorian national had been arrested in Ping’s headquarters on Monday, adding: “We are not saying that Ivory Coast is involved but some highly-placed Ivorians are”. After he died in June 2009, his son Ali won an election but opposition media claimed he had essentially been installed by France.
Gabonese authorities, however, say the death toll stands at three, besides 105 wounded, and that some deaths were previously attributed incorrectly to the clashes.
Meanwhile, a high-level African Union delegation including heads of state is ready to be dispatched to Libreville to help calm the situation, AU chairman and Chad President Idriss Deby said.
Parliament also resumed, with lawmakers gathering sombrely in the Senate building after part of the National Assembly complex was badly damaged during last week’s protests.
Advertisement
“I invite the president of the republic to make the wise decision to avoid the useless suffering of the people”, by making public the ballot counts for each bureau, Justice Minister Seraphin Moundounga said on a private television station. Gabon is a former French colony. The violence after the announcement of the results on Wednesday has sparked global concern with top diplomats calling for restraint as rights groups raised alarm over the use of excessive force. But it has ruled out intervening in Gabon, where it has a military base.
