Coup leader of Gabon, General Brice Oligui Nguema, has promised to restore civilian rule through free, transparent and credible elections after a transition and amnesty prisoners of conscience.
Nguema made the promise after he was sworn in as interim president on Monday.
In a speech after taking the oath of office, he said the elections would be the stepping stone to “handing power back to the civilians,” although he did not give a timeline.
He said he was seeking the participation of all of Gabon’s “core groups” to draft a new constitution, which “will be adopted by referendum.”
He added that he would be instructing “the future governmen to consider ways of amnestying prisoners of conscience” and “facilitating the return of all exiles” from abroad.
The 48-year-old, who is head of the elite Republican Guard, led a coup that brought the curtain down on 55 years of dynastic rule by President Ali Bongo Ondimba and his father Omar, who died in 2009.
Bongo’s ouster came just moments after he had been declared winner in presidential elections last month — a result branded a fraud by the opposition.
The military had been prompted by a desire to avoid bloodshed following “an electoral process that was obviously loaded,” he said.
“We are greatly surprised to hear certain international organisations condemn the act taken by soldiers who were simply upholding their oath to the flag — to save their country at the risk of their lives,” he said.
Five other countries in Africa that have undergone coups in the last three years include Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Although, these other African countries circumstances are different from Gabon’s.
AFP
