Topline
Military officers in Gabon claim they have overthrown the country’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba and scrapped the country’s general elections moments after its results were announced Wednesday, making it the latest coup to hit an ex-French colony.
This video grab shoes the spokesperson for the mutinous soldiers speaking on state television as ... [+]
Key Facts
The announcement was made in a televised address after the country’s electoral authority announced that Bongo had won a third seven-year term as president after receiving 64.27% of the popular vote, AFP reported.
The opposition—made up of a coalition of several parties—decried the results as fraudulent, according to the BBC.
In their televised address, the military leaders of the coup said they were “putting an end to the current regime” and had dissolved “all the institutions of the republic” including the government, the national legislature and the country’s constitutional court.
The junta said it will also be shutting down the central African nation’s borders until further notice.
Bongo has been placed under house arrest and one of his sons has been arrested on “treason” charges, according to the junta’s leaders.
Several foreign countries including Russia, China and France have expressed concern about the coup, with Beijing urging the coup’s leaders to ensure Bongo’s safety, BBC reported.
Key Background
Gabon’s general election took place on Saturday although serious questions were raised about the legitimacy of the polling process both by opposition leaders and foreign media. Bongo’s chief opponent, Albert Ondo Ossa, claimed his name was missing from the ballot papers at several polling stations. Bongo’s government also cut internet access across the country on the day of the election, which remained in effect until Wednesday. The electoral process was also heavily criticized by Reporters Without Borders, who said the government refused to allow the foreign press to cover the elections. The government also temporarily banned the broadcast of several foreign news outlets—including France 24, RFI and TV5Monde. Government officials claimed these bans, along with nighttime curfews, were instituted to halt the spread of false information and calls for violence.
News Peg
The coup in Gabon comes a month after the government of Niger was overthrown by a military junta. However, unlike Niger, Gabon had not been beset by extremist violence and a significantly more developed economy. Oil accounts for around one-third of Gabon’s GDP and the country is one of the 13 members of OPEC. Gabon has also not previously been seen as part of the so-called “coup belt” that stretches across Central and West Africa. Since 2020 the region has seen juntas pull off successful coups in Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea and Mali.
Further Reading
