Gabon Crises: Soldiers stage coup, declare election ‘fraud’

Soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”.
The apparent coup follows shortly after the national election authority’s announcement on Wednesday that Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba had been re-elected for a third term.
A soldier appearing on TV channel Gabon 24 said, “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime”.
Gunfire is reported in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, according to media reports.
Gabon’s political opposition branded the election a “fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters”.

A nationwide internet shutdown was imposed by President Ali Bongo’s government as polling drew to a close late Saturday on the grounds that it would prevent the spread of “false news” and possible violence.

‘This is a big issue for Europe’
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says defence ministers from the bloc are to discuss the situation in Gabon.

“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo, said.

“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.

“This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.

Gabon’s army officers who claimed to have seized power say the country is “on the road to happiness”, adding that Libreville will respect its commitments “to the national and international community”.

“We call for calm and serenity from the public, the communities of sister countries settled in Gabon, and the Gabonese diaspora,” an officer reading a statement on state TV said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to respecting Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community,” he added.