- Promise of Transition to Civilian Rule
- Gen. Nguema’s Defiant Inauguration Speech
- International Response to the Coup
After “free, transparent” elections, the leader of Gabon’s military junta has vowed to hand over authority to civilians.
However, in a speech following his inauguration as interim president, he did not provide a date for the end of military rule.
Gen Brice Nguema led the coup against Ali Bongo on Wednesday, ousting the president shortly after he was declared the victor of a contested election.
At the inauguration, throngs of civilians cheered; the coup was greeted by many desiring change.
Nevertheless, some claim that Gen. Nguema will continue the 55-year Bongo dynasty.
Ali Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, ruled for 41 years until his death in 2009.
The 48-year-old general, apparently Ali Bongo’s cousin, spent most of his career with the Bongos.
Gen. Nguema cited Desmond Tutu, Charles de Gaulle, and Jerry Rawlings in his combative inauguration speech on Monday.
The new president, dressed in the crimson ceremonial uniform of the Republican Guard, stated, “This patriotic act will serve as a lesson that will be taught in our schools’ textbooks.”
A new administration “in a few days” and new electoral rules, penal code, and constitutional referendum were his promises.
Gen. Nguema also stated that he had instructed the new government to “consider immediately” the release of all political prisoners.
The ceremony was live-streamed on Gabonese television and across multiple online platforms.
Former ministers from the overthrown government and hundreds of bureaucrats attended the event, which junta loyalists jeered.
The opposition welcomes Mr. Bongo’s ouster but wants civilian rule quickly.
Albert Ondo Ossa, the unsuccessful presidential candidate, told the Associated Press that the coup was a “palace revolution” orchestrated by the Bongo family to maintain their authority.
The seizure by Gen. Nguema is the most recent in a series of military coups in West and Central Africa.
Gabon is the sixth Francophone country to collapse under military rule in the past three years, as France struggles to maintain its influence on the continent.
The African Union suspended Gabon’s membership after the coup, which was decried by the United Nations and France.
Monday, during his inaugural address, Gen. Nguema stated that he was “surprised” by international criticism of the takeover.
