Gabon: Opposition candidate Jean Ping predicts victory in presidential election

Ping seeking to ‘break’ Bongo dynasty

Gabon’s most prominent opposition candidate said Sunday that early results show he will win this central African country’s presidential election, though official results have not been announced.

“The general trends indicate we are the winner of this important presidential election,” Jean Ping, a former chair of the African Union Commission, told reporters Sunday afternoon.
An announcement that is expected on Tuesday.

Ping is trying to unseat President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who came to power in 2009. During the campaign, Ping said voters in Gabon were ready to turn the page on the Bongo family dynasty, which stretches back to the 1960s. “In a few hours, in a few days, we will finally be free,” he said Sunday.

Gabon does not have a runoff system, meaning whoever gets the largest share of Saturday’s votes will be the winner. A total of 10 candidates participated.

The tense campaign featured efforts to get Bongo’s candidacy annulled based on claims he was born in Nigeria and therefore is ineligible to be president — claims Bongo dismissed as unfounded.

Gabon – an oil producing country of less than 2 million people, is one of Africa’s wealthier countries. However, declining oil output and falling prices have resulted in budget cuts and provided fodder for opposition claims that average people have struggled under Bongo’s leadership.

Source: Associated Press