Gabon opposition leader hits out on top court ruling

Libreville. Opposition leader Jean Ping on Saturday lashed a decision by Gabon’s top court to validate President Ali Bongo’s re-election, as police and troops patrolled the deserted streets of Libreville to prevent a new flareup of violence.

Ping accused the Constitutional Court of “bias (and) miscarriage of justice” following a ruling early Saturday that upheld Bongo’s disputed victory in the August 27 presidential election.

“I will not retreat. As president clearly elected by the Gabonese people, I remain at your side to defend your vote and your sovereignty,” Ping said.

Concern has been growing that a ruling in favour of Bongo, in power since the death of his long-ruling father Omar Bongo in 2009, could spark more of the deadly unrest Gabon saw after the president’s re-election was announced.

Ping, a career diplomat and a former top official at the African Union, had filed a legal challenge earlier this month demanding a recount. The Constitutional Court confirmed Bongo as victor and partially amended the results, saying his lead over Ping had risen from a wafer-thin 6,000, as was first announced, to 11,000 votes. Libreville’s nearly empty streets were under the watch of a heavy police and military presence on Saturday.

Checkpoints dotted routes into the capital’s centre, helicopters hovered overhead and elite troops protected the presidential palace, but there were no reports of any violence.

In his first comments after the ruling, Bongo appealed for “political dialogue” with the opposition to steer Gabon out of crisis.

“I intend to very quickly bring together the conditions for a political dialogue open to all those who wish (to take part),” Bongo said in a televised speech.

He called on Ping, an ally-turned-rival, to work with him, “guided by the will to place the greater good of the nation above our individual and partisan interests.”

Foreign Minister Emmanuel Isozet Ngondet used his address at the UN in New York on Saturday to call for international support to restore unity.

“Preserving peace and stability in the country is the challenge of the moment,” he said.

Western powers have expressed concern over the election’s conduct and the opposition’s treatment in its aftermath.

The US embassy in Gabon called for the Constitutional Court to release details of its deliberations. (AFP)