Gabon’s Constitutional Court on Friday (Sept. 23) upheld the re-election of incumbent president Ali Bongo, extending his family’s five-decade rule over the oil-rich, small Central African nation. “The Constitutional Court insulted the people and did not respect democracy”, said Clay Martial, an opposition supporter who went to Ping’s headquarters on Saturday.
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Concern has been growing that the court ruling in favour of Bongo, 57, could prompt more of the unrest the country witnessed in the immediate aftermath of the election.
President Bongo says he is now seeking to form a new government.
In his legal challenge to the election result that was rejected by the court, Ping had demanded a vote recount in the Bongo family’s Haut-Ogooue stronghold.
At a televised public hearing overnight in Libreville, in an nearly empty room, the court said Bongo had taken 50.66% of the vote against 47.24% for Ping.
Ping’s lawyer, Jean-Remy Bantsantsa, has said he has heard the court’s ruling will go in Bongo’s favor. The EU questioned its integrity; its monitors found anomalies in one province.
So far there has been no protests.
Speaking to supporters and reporters at his residence in the capital, Libreville, Ping called for people to “remain vigilant and mobilised”.
In an interview with Reuters on Saturday Mr Bongo called for political dialogue.
“We don’t need worldwide mediation. We are also troubled by the continued internet shutdown”, it said in a statement. The opposition says as many as 100 people died in the violence, while the government said three were killed.
The court cancelled results from 21 polling stations in Libreville over irregularities, helping Bongo to improve his margin of victory from 49.85 percent of ballots cast to 50.66 percent in the final court-certified result.
Gabon’s newly re-elected president, Ali Bongo, said Saturday that he would seek to form a new government based on a national political dialogue that will “most likely” include leading opposition figures.
“We want a calm country”, said Arnel Sama, 40, an unemployed resident of Libreville, expressing relief that the court ruling had not immediately sparked renewed unrest, as many had feared.
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Ping insisted that the vote was fraudulent and filed a legal challenge with the country’s highest court. On his Twitter handle, the president wrote that he would make his win a victory for all Gabonese people.
