Gabon: No rush to elections and ‘the same mistakes’-Coup Leader

As pressure grows to restore a civilian government to power, the mastermind of the coup that toppled Gabon’s President Ali Bongo toppled him, says he doesn’t want to rush into elections that “repeat past mistakes.”

On Wednesday, military officials under the command of General Brice Oligui Nguema took control of the country shortly after it was announced that Bongo had won a third term in elections.

The officers ended the 56-year rule of the Bongo family by placing Bongo under house arrest and appointing Nguema as president.

The eight coup in three years in West and Central Africa was met with jubilant crowds in the streets of Libreville, the country’s capital, but also with international and domestic censure.

“Our aim is to move as quickly as possible, quickly but surely. Moving as quickly as possible doesn’t mean organising elections in a rush where we’ll end up with the same mistakes, where the same people will continue in power, and it all comes back to the same thing,” Nguema said in a televised address on Friday night.

Regional bloc, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), has urged partners led by the United Nations and the African Union to support a rapid return to constitutional order, it said in a statement after an extraordinary meeting on Thursday. It said it would reconvene on Monday.