Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
31-08-2023
LIBREVILLE: Gabon’s deposed President Ali Bongo Ondimba has solicited help, hours after he was put under house arrest by members of his presidential guard in an ongoing coup attempt on Wednesday.
Bongo, who confirmed his arrest in a video circulating on social media and verified by media, called on calls on citizens to “make noise” after the coup attempt.
Journalists in Dakar said people were out in the streets of the Gabonese capital Libreville, celebrating and waving flags.
Appearing on state-run television channel Gabon 24, the officers who orchestrated the coup said they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation.
They also said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved.
The state institutions they declared dissolved included the government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court and the election body.
“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one officer read out loud from the joint statement while about a dozen others stood silently behind him in military fatigues and berets.
The servicemen introduced themselves as members of the “Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions”.
Some Gabonese voters have encountered delays in taking part in Saturday’s presidential, legislative and local elections that the opposition hopes will foil President Ali Bongo’s bid for a third term and end his family’s 56-year grip on power.
Of Bongo’s 18 challengers, six from major opposition parties have backed a joint nominee in an effort to narrow the race.
Voting was meant to kick off across the Central African country at 8am local time (07:00 GMT), although several polling stations in the capital, Libreville, saw significant delays, a Reuters reporter said. Posts on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, reported voting had started in some areas, but others noted their polling stations were still closed. (Int’l News Desk)
