3RD LEAD: Gabon coup: UN chief ‘firmly condemns’ Gabon coup, notes reports of election abuses (Eds: Adds UN chief's reaction)
New York, US (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday "firmly condemned" the coup in Gabon, while acknowledging that “serious infringements of fundamental freedoms” appear to have taken place during elections at the weekend.
Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that UN chief António Guterres was following the evolving situation in the capital, Libreville, “very closely”.
While condemning military action as “a means to resolve the post electoral crisis”, the Secretary-General said he had noted the announcement by the Central African nation’s electoral body of a win for incumbent president Ali Bongo with “deep concern”, given reports of serious irregularities at the polls.
This announcement of a military takeover in the capital by a group of officers who declared the election results void and the dissolution of State institutions, would mark the eighth coup – if successful – in West and Central Africa since 2020.
The soldiers made the announcement of the coup shortly after the election commission said President Bongo had won a third term with 64.27%. The opposition on Tuesday claimed victory, saying its candidate, Ondo Ossa, was the winner, but the electoral commission said he garnered 30.77%.
“The Secretary-General reaffirms his strong opposition to military coups,” said the UN Spokesperson.
The coup leaders have placed President Bongo under house arrest, ending in effect more than half a century of dynastic rule.
The current president’s father, Omar, came to power in 1967.
After violent unrest erupted following Ali's disputed election victory in 2016, there was a foiled coup attempt in 2019.
The coup leaders calling themselves "The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions", had declared the country to be in a state of institutional, political, economic and social crisis.
"All the institutions of the Republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court," they said.
The country is currently an elected member of the UN Security Council.
“The Secretary-General calls on all actors involved to exercise restraint, engage in an inclusive and meaningful dialogue and ensure that the rule of law and human rights are fully respected,” said the statement issued by his Spokeperson.
“He also calls on the national army and security forces to guarantee the physical integrity of the President of the Republic and his family.”
Mr. Dujarric also stressed that the UN “stands by the people of Gabon”.
Questioned by correspondents at the daily Noon Briefing in New York on the pattern of military coups across the region, he said the best way of dealing with them “is in fact to invest more in preventing them prior, in investing in strong institutions, in ensuring that elections are safe, that people are able to express themselves, that human rights are respected”.
“Our broader concern is really for the people of Gabon, and people of countries that have undergone military coups recently which is a clear violation of their rights.”
In another development, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in a statement said he was following "with great concern" the situation in Gabon and strongly condemned the attempted coup d'état in the country as a means out of the current post-electoral crisis.
He stressed that it constituted "a flagrant violation of the legal and political instruments of the African Union", including the African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance.
Mr. Mahamat further called on the national army and security forces "to adhere strictly to their republican vocation and to guarantee the physical integrity of the President of the Republic, members of his family, and those of his government".
"The Chairman of the Commission encourages all political, civil and military actors in Gabon to give priority to peaceful political avenues, and a rapid return to democratic constitutional order in the country," the statement said.
President Bongo, whom senior military officers said they ousted from power on Wednesdsay, appeared in a video calling on "friends" of the Central African country "all over the world" to “make noise”.
The military officers said Bongo was under house arrest and one of his sons had been arrested for "treason", France 24, a French television channel reported.
"President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors," they said in a statement read out on state TV.
The statement added that other people in the government had been arrested on various charges.
Bongo said he was speaking from detention in his residence and that his wife and son were in different places. He assumed power when his father, Omar, died in 2009.
He was seated in a chair in his first public appearance since soldiers announced his overthrow.
-0- PANA MA/RA 30Aug2023
