Gabon’s 38-year president Bongo re-elected

LIBREVILLE – Gabon’s President Omar Bongo, who has been in power since 1967, was re-elected for seven more years after winning 79.2 percent of the votes cast in weekend election, officials said late on Tuesday.

Bongo crushed at the polls his two main opponents, the “radical” Pierre Mamboundou, 59, who received 13,6 per cent of the vote, and former top government minister, Zacharie Myboto, 67, with 6,6 per cent, said Interior Minister Christian Clotaire Ivala, citing figures from the National Election Commission. Voter turnout in the oil-rich former French colony was at 63,3 per cent of the nearly 555 000 Gabonese who were eligible to cast ballots.The opposition contested the results even before they were announced, charging there were incidents of voter fraud in the presidential poll.Just hours before the official results were announced, Mamboundou was declaring himself the winner as the candidate for change, while Myboto labelled the election results as “fabricated”.However, international observers, including the International Organisation of Francophone Countries (OIF) and the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), found the election in the oil-rich former French colony to “largely” meet international standards for a democratic vote.As for Africa’s longest-serving leader, a spokesman for Bongo claimed, as widely expected, that the 69-year-old was heading to a “large and comfortable” victory.Bongo was supported by a political coalition of more than 40 parties and has maintained an iron grip on the media.- Nampa-AFPVoter turnout in the oil-rich former French colony was at 63,3 per cent of the nearly 555 000 Gabonese who were eligible to cast ballots.The opposition contested the results even before they were announced, charging there were incidents of voter fraud in the presidential poll.Just hours before the official results were announced, Mamboundou was declaring himself the winner as the candidate for change, while Myboto labelled the election results as “fabricated”.However, international observers, including the International Organisation of Francophone Countries (OIF) and the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), found the election in the oil-rich former French colony to “largely” meet international standards for a democratic vote.As for Africa’s longest-serving leader, a spokesman for Bongo claimed, as widely expected, that the 69-year-old was heading to a “large and comfortable” victory.Bongo was supported by a political coalition of more than 40 parties and has maintained an iron grip on the media.- Nampa-AFP