After Niger, Gabon victim of a military coup
- Noé Renard
- Sep 4, 2023
- 3 min read
Between Tuesday and Wednesday at night, the Gabonese presidential election results were announced. The outgoing president, Ali Bongo, was in the head with 64.27% of the ballot forms. He was the leader of the country for 14 years, having inherited from his father political power.
However, a few hours after this announcement, Ali Bongo was ousted and placed in a "residence under surveillance, with his family and his doctors" by soldiers who grabbed the head of state. They denounced rigged results after the vote. Other arrests took place into major authorities of the Gabon, and into the headquarters of the Gabonese Democratical Party. Ali Bongo explained he wanted to send "a message to all the friends we have in the entire world to tell them to make noise about the situation" and encourage his allies to oppose the coup. According to Brice Oligui Nguema, president Bongo is only put in retirement : It's a Gabonese chief of state. He his put in retirement, he has all his rights".
Leaders of the republican guard appeared on-screen to give details about the Ali Bongo's situation, and to explain the emergency measures. "Responsible for the protection of the institutions [we] decided to defend the peace by ending the current regime. In this regard, generals elections of the august 26th and the rigged results are rescinded, borders are closed indefinitely, all the republican organizations are shut down. A few hours after, Brice Oligui Nguema, chief of the republican guard, became the new chief of state. This important figure of the Gabonese army received the support of the army and was named as the "transitional president". On the Gabonese television, a statement was read and announced the designation of the general Oligui Nguema Brice as the new "president of the Transition and Restoration Committee".
According to LCI, since the military putsch, inhabitants stayed quiet and enclosed, even if some demonstrators paraded to uphold military and to thank them for liberating the society from "a dictatorship". Neither restrictive measures were taken by the junta.
Almost a month after the Nigerian coup, the Gabonese putsch is an important concern for France and its benefice into the area. Libreville is an historic and loyal ally of Paris. In the both coup situations, French authorities decried the comportment of the juntas. Even if France denounced this disruption of the Gabonese election process and claim a return to "a constitutional order", public officials didn't ask for the reinstatement of the ruling president. The French governement spokesperson reminded "our [French] attachment to free and clear elections", while the militaries voided the results.
Nevertheless, the Gabonese coup is different from the Nigerian one. In Niamey, soldiers initiated an aggressive campaign against French interests, demanding the ouster of the French ambassador and French soldiers. (Those troops were deployed to fight jihadists, after the coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.) Since then, French government insists the return of Mohammed Bazoum of the head of state and don't want to negotiate with military authorities. Unlike Niger, after the coup in Gabon, soldiers assured wanting to realise all the engagements for the international community. Nobody expressed hostilities against France, and the international television channels were reestablished. The junta promised the "progressive establishment of transitional institutions". Monday, the general Oligui will sworn and will become the "transitional President".
At the international level, reactions are numerous. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) was gathered this Thursday to talk about the Gabonese situation. The AU commission president, Moussa Faki Mahamat, stated that he "vigorously condemn the (Gabonese) coup", denouncing a "flagrant violation" of the AU rules. The situation of the Gabon, member of the Commonwealtrh since 2022, was judged "deeply concerning" by the organization. In addition, John Kirby, spokesperson of the American national security council, described a worrying situation after the numerous coups which took place in Africa in recent years. He stated that : "We will remain focused on the work with our partners in Africa and the entire population of the continent to help support democracy”. The chief of the European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, highlighted the difference between the coups happened in Niger and Gabon. "Naturally, military coups are not the solution, but we must not forget that in Gabon there were elections full of irregularities."
Sources : BBC , ONU , TV5 Monde , TF1 Info , Le Monde
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