Gabon's opposition faced a legal deadline yester day to seek a vote recount in an election they say was stolen by President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the oil-rich OPEC member state for almost half a century.
Results last week showed Bongo, 57, beat his main rival Jean Ping, a veteran diplomat, by fewer than 6000 votes in the August 27 poll, prompting days of violent riots during which at least six people died.
Bongo has rejected accusations that results were altered to ensure his victory, but has come under increasing international pressure to back a recount of votes, including from former colonial power France, which has a military base in Gabon.
The UN has urged the opposition to lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Court before the 4pm deadline yesterday.
Ping, 73, has repeatedly questioned the neutrality of the court. He could, however, not be reached for comment yesterday. His campaign manager said Ping was weighing the option of officially challenging the result.
"We're currently studying the question. A decision hasn't yet been taken," said John Nambo.
International criticism of the election has focused on the results from Bongo's stronghold, the province of Haut-Ogooue, where the participation rate was more than double that of other regions and showed that 95.46% of voters backed Bongo.
The European Union has said it found anomalies in the results from Haut-Ogooue and yesterday France renewed its call for a recount.
As well as its military base, France has about 14000 nationals based in Gabon and, through its oil giant Total , a large stake in the country's oil sector . France has ruled out intervening in Gabon's post-electoral crisis as it has done before in its former colonies, saying it is up to Africans to resolve it.
AU mediators, led by Chad's President Idriss Deby, are expected to arrive in the Gabonese capital Libreville today to help find a solution. Some analysts have questioned whether Deby, one of Africa's "big men" in power since 1990, will push for a recount.
A power-sharing deal in Gabon is also seen as unlikely, partly because of the personal nature of the feud between the two candidates. Bongo has accused the opposition of cheating in turn and will ask the Constitutional Court to investigate irregularities.
Critics of Bongo, who won a disputed election in 2009 after the death of his long-ruling father Omar Bongo, say he has not done enough to redistribute oil wealth beyond a small elite. The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) has suffered a series of high-level defections in recent years.
Ping, a life-long political insider and former AU Commission chairman, was a close ally of President Omar Bongo, but fell out with his son and resigned from the PDG in 2014. He has two children with Ali Bongo's sister Pascaline.
Gabon's Ping faces legal challenge deadline
Gabon's opposition faced a legal deadline yester day to seek a vote recount in an election they say was stolen by President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the oil-rich OPEC member state for almost half a century.
Results last week showed Bongo, 57, beat his main rival Jean Ping, a veteran diplomat, by fewer than 6000 votes in the August 27 poll, prompting days of violent riots during which at least six people died.
Bongo has rejected accusations that results were altered to ensure his victory, but has come under increasing international pressure to back a recount of votes, including from former colonial power France, which has a military base in Gabon.
The UN has urged the opposition to lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Court before the 4pm deadline yesterday.
Ping, 73, has repeatedly questioned the neutrality of the court. He could, however, not be reached for comment yesterday. His campaign manager said Ping was weighing the option of officially challenging the result.
"We're currently studying the question. A decision hasn't yet been taken," said John Nambo.
International criticism of the election has focused on the results from Bongo's stronghold, the province of Haut-Ogooue, where the participation rate was more than double that of other regions and showed that 95.46% of voters backed Bongo.
The European Union has said it found anomalies in the results from Haut-Ogooue and yesterday France renewed its call for a recount.
As well as its military base, France has about 14000 nationals based in Gabon and, through its oil giant Total , a large stake in the country's oil sector . France has ruled out intervening in Gabon's post-electoral crisis as it has done before in its former colonies, saying it is up to Africans to resolve it.
AU mediators, led by Chad's President Idriss Deby, are expected to arrive in the Gabonese capital Libreville today to help find a solution. Some analysts have questioned whether Deby, one of Africa's "big men" in power since 1990, will push for a recount.
A power-sharing deal in Gabon is also seen as unlikely, partly because of the personal nature of the feud between the two candidates. Bongo has accused the opposition of cheating in turn and will ask the Constitutional Court to investigate irregularities.
Critics of Bongo, who won a disputed election in 2009 after the death of his long-ruling father Omar Bongo, say he has not done enough to redistribute oil wealth beyond a small elite. The ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) has suffered a series of high-level defections in recent years.
Ping, a life-long political insider and former AU Commission chairman, was a close ally of President Omar Bongo, but fell out with his son and resigned from the PDG in 2014. He has two children with Ali Bongo's sister Pascaline.
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