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Wednesday, September 7, 2016
The AU is planning to send a delegation to Gabon to aid in bringing the country’s post-election crisis to a halt. Currently both the incumbent, President Ali Bongo, and his challenger in the election, Jean Ping, are claiming the win at the ballot box.
The country’s electoral commission named Bongo the winner, which led to clashes in the streets of Libreville and Port Gentil between Ping supporters and Gabonese police. The government said six people died in the clashes, however the opposition claims the figure is much higher.
“It is an urgent matter and I expect the high-level delegation to be dispatched very soon,” African Union spokesman Jacob Enoh Eben said in a Reuters report. Chad’s President Idriss Deby, one of Africa’s longest-ruling presidents who currently holds the chair of the pan-African body, would likely lead the talks, he added.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls suggested on Tuesday that a recount of the vote would be wise. He also called on Gabonese authorities to help locate around 15 French nationals it says are missing.
France has in the past intervened in its former African colonies, such as when it helped oust Cote d’Ivoire’s then-President Laurent Gbagbo in 2011 after he refused to concede defeat in an election.
But it has ruled out intervening in Gabon where it has a military base and around 14,000 citizens.
Gabon’s opposition can launch an appeal for a recount through the Constitutional Court, although it has not yet indicated it would do so.
Up to 1,100 people were arrested last week during the unrest, according to the interior minister, although many have since been released.
U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday they were following the situation in Gabon with “increased concern”.
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