2023-08-30 05:48:59
Gabonese soldiers announce on television the cancellation of the elections and the dissolution of the country’s institutions on the Gabon 24 channel, August 30, 2023. SCREEN CAPTURE X @MMALEKOU / GABON 24
Confusion reigns in Gabon where, hardly the victory of Ali Bongo Ondimba in presidential of August 26 known, soldiers intervened on the public television channel Gabon 24 to announce the cancellation of the elections and the dissolution of the institutions. “We are putting an end to the regime in place”, affirmed a group of a dozen Gabonese soldiers on Wednesday August 30 at dawn, specifying that “the borders are closed”.
Among these soldiers were members of the Republican Guard (GR), the praetorian guard of the presidency, recognizable by their green berets, as well as regular army soldiers and police officers. The statement was then also broadcast on Gabon Première public television.
After noticing “an irresponsible, unpredictable governance, which results in a continuous deterioration of social cohesion that risks leading the country to chaos (…), we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place”said a soldier on television, saying he was speaking on behalf of a “Transition and Institutional Restoration Committee”.
Automatic weapons fire in Libreville
According to Agence France-Presse journalists present on the spot, automatic weapon fire was heard during this statement in the Gabonese capital, Libreville.
In power for fourteen years, President Ali Bongo Ondimba had just been declared re-elected on Wednesday morning for a third term, with 64.27% of the votes cast.
According to the national authority in charge of the elections, Mr. Bongo had beaten, in a single ballot, his main rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, who won only 30.77% of the vote, as well as twelve other candidates who collected only crumbs. The president of the Gabonese Election Center (CGE), Michel Stéphane Bonda, announced the results on the air of state television Gabon Première. The participation rate was 56.65%.
Albert Ondo Ossa had denounced “fraud orchestrated by Camp Bongo” two hours before the polls closed on Saturday and was already claiming victory by then. His camp on Monday urged Mr. Bongo to “Organise, without bloodshed, the transfer of power” on the basis of a count carried out according to him by his own scrutineers, but without producing any supporting document.
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The official results were given in the middle of the night, at 3 a.m. (4 a.m. in Paris), on state television without any announcement of the event having been made beforehand. In the middle of a curfew, therefore, and while the Internet is cut throughout the country, two measures decreed by the government on Saturday before the closing of the polling stations, in order to ward off, according to him, the dissemination “fake news” and to possible “violence”.
The statement of the soldiers read on television
Here is the verbatim statement of a group of a dozen Gabonese soldiers, read on the Gabon 24 television channel housed within the presidency.
“Our beautiful country, Gabon, has always been a haven of peace. Today, this country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic and social crisis.
Also, it must be admitted that the organization of the electoral deadlines, known as the general elections of August 26, 2023, did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so hoped for by Gabonese men and women. Added to this is an irresponsible, unpredictable governance, which translates into a continuous deterioration of social cohesion, risking to lead the country into chaos.
Today, August 30, 2023, we, the defense and security forces, gathered within the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), on behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantor of the protection of institutions, have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place.
To this end, the general elections of August 26, 2023 as well as the truncated results are cancelled. Borders are closed until further notice. All the institutions of the Republic are dissolved, in particular the government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, the Gabonese Center for Elections.
We call on the populations, the communities of sister countries settled in Gabon as well as the Gabonese of the diaspora for calm and serenity. We reaffirm our attachment to the respect of Gabon’s commitments vis-à-vis the national and international community.
Gabonese people, it is finally our flight towards happiness. May God and the ghosts of our ancestors bless Gabon. Honor and fidelity to the fatherland. Thank you. »
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