Ali Bongo

Gabon: Military Seizes Power After Reelection of Ali Bongo

A group of military officers in Gabon said they had dissolved state institutions and placed President Bongo under house arrest. Gunfire was heard in the capital city of Libreville.

A group of high-ranking military officers in Gabon appeared on TV on Wednesday to announce the nullification of the country’s recent election results, citing a lack of credibility.

Gunfire rang out in the centre of the capital, Libreville shortly after the central African country’s election committee declared early Wednesday morning that 64-year-old President Ali Bongo had won the election with 64.27% of the vote.

The coup leaders later said that Bongo had been placed under house arrest for “treason” while other government figures had been detained on various charges.

“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on state TV.

His son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, who was also a close advisor to the president, was among the other arrested individuals.

All institutions dissolved

“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said.

The announcement on the Gabon 24 TV channel was made on behalf of a group calling itself the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions.”

The group on TV included a dozen army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers and others.

Claiming to represent all of Gabon’s security and defence forces, the officers declared the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic.”

They cited “irresponsible, unpredictable governance” leading to a deteriorating social climate as the reason for their intervention, aiming to restore peace by ending the current regime.

The group also announced that the “borders are closed until further notice.”

The military coup in 🇬🇦 Gabon is gaining HUGE amounts of support from locals. pic.twitter.com/dROOOjuEJU

— Rev Laskaris (@REVMAXXING) August 30, 2023

Tensions high since election

Tensions have escalated following Saturday’s election, where Bongo aimed to continue his family’s 55-year rule amid opposition calls for change in the resource-rich but impoverished nation.

Concerns about the vote’s transparency grew due to the absence of international observers, suspension of foreign broadcasts, and a nationwide internet blackout and curfew imposed by authorities.

There was no immediate comment from the government.

The coup attempt occurred almost a month after mutinous troops in Niger overthrew the democratically elected government.

In 2019, soldiers declared on the state radio that they had “formed a national restoration council” to oust President Ali Bongo.

The coup attempt lasted less than a week after military forces stormed the station with eight plotters arrested and two killed.

Journalist calls election ‘unfair and absurd’

Gabonese journalist Jocksy Ondo Louemba called last Saturday’s election “unfair and absurd.”

He told DW the success of the coup relied on deep dissatisfaction among the military, adding that toppling the regime would have failed if it did not have widespread support.

Louemba explained that while former president Omar Bongo had “bought off political opponents,” his son, current President Ali Bongo, was “against dialogue.”

“He thought he could achieve everything with violence and the police,” Louemba told DW.

How has the world reacted?

Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU’s defence ministers would discuss the situation in Gabon. A coup in Gabon would only cause more instability in the region, Borrell added.

He also said ahead of the ministers’ summit in the Spanish city of Toledo that if it turns out to be a genuine coup, then it would provide further evidence of the increasing instability in Western and Central Africa which is a cause for concern for the EU.

France, the West African country’s former coloniser, said on Wednesday it was following events “with great attention.” A government spokesperson later said that France condemns the ongoing coup.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told ambassadors in Paris that French diplomats had had to contend with a series of crises, including Ukraine, Sudan and Niger.

French mining company Eramet also announced on Wednesday halting all operations in the country, which brought down its shares by nearly 5%. The company has large manganese operations in Gabon.

Russia also responded, with the Kremlin saying it was “very concerned” about the situation in Gabon.

Meanwhile, Beijing called upon “all sides” to guarantee President Ali Bongo’s safety.

“China is closely following the developing situation in Gabon,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. “We call on all sides in Gabon to proceed from the basic interests of the country and the people, resolve differences through dialogue, [and] restore normal order as soon as possible.”

This article was originally published on DW.

China’s Xi Offers Another $60 Billion to Africa, but Says No to ‘Vanity’ Projects

China has denied engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy, and Xi’s offer of more money comes after a pledge of another $60 billion at the previous summit in South Africa three years ago.

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping offered another $60 billion in financing for Africa on Monday and wrote off some debt for poorer African nations, while warning against funds going towards “vanity projects”.

Speaking at the opening of a major summit with African leaders, Xi promised development that people on the continent could see and touch, but that would also be green and sustainable.

China has denied engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy, and Xi’s offer of more money comes after a pledge of another $60 billion at the previous summit in South Africa three years ago.

Xi, addressing leaders at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, said the new $60 billion will include $15 billion of aid, interest-free loans and concessional loans, a credit line of $20 billion, a $10 billion special fund for China-Africa development, and a $5 billion special fund for imports from Africa.

Chinese companies will be encouraged to invest no less than $10 billion in the continent in the next three years, he said.

Government debt from China’s interest free loans due by the end of 2018 will be written off for indebted poor African countries, as well as for developing nations in the continent’s interior and small island nations, Xi said.

“China-Africa cooperation must give Chinese and African people tangible benefits and successes that can be seen, that can be felt,” he said.

China will carry out 50 projects on green development and environmental protection in Africa, focusing on fighting climate change, desertification and wildlife protection, Xi said.

He pledged, without giving details, that China would set up a peace and security fund and a related forum, while continuing to provide free military assistance to the African Union.

Chinese officials have vowed to be more cautious to ensure projects are sustainable. China defends continued lending to Africa on the grounds that the continent still needs debt-funded infrastructure development.

Speaking earlier at a business forum, Xi said China had to be careful about where money was spent.

“China’s cooperation with Africa is clearly targeted at the major bottlenecks to development. Resources for our cooperation are not to be spent on any vanity projects but in places where they count the most,” he said.

Beijing has also fended off criticism it is only interested in resource extraction to feed its own booming economy, that the projects it funds have poor environmental safeguards, and that too many of the workers for them are flown in from China rather than using African labour.

‘Africa knows best’

Chinese officials say this year’s summit will strengthen Africa’s role in Xi’s Belt and Road initiative to link China by sea and land with Southeast and Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa through an infrastructure network modelled on the old Silk Road.

Xi said the plan, for which Beijing has pledged $126 billion, would help provide more resources and facilities for Africa and would expand shared markets.

China loaned around $125 billion to the continent from 2000 to 2016, data from the China-Africa Research Initiative at Washington’s Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies shows.

State media has accused the West of sour grapes over China’s prominent role in Africa and has angrily rejected claims of forcing African countries into a debt trap.

“In terms of cooperation with China, African countries know best,” widely read tabloid the Global Times wrote in an editorial on Monday.

“Western media deliberately portray Africans in misery for collaborating with China and they appear to have discovered big news by finding occasional complaints in the African media about Sino-Africa cooperation,” it said.

Every African country is represented at the business forum apart from eSwatini, self-ruled Taiwan’s last African ally that has so far rejected China’s overtures to ditch Taipei and recognise Beijing.

African presidents in attendance include South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Zambia’s Edgar Lungu and Gabon’s Ali Bongo.

There are some controversial guests.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, who has been in power for nearly 30 years, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes over killings and persecution in Sudan’s Darfur province between 2003 and 2008.

Xi told him on Sunday that “foreign forces” should not interfere in Sudan’s internal affairs, China’s Foreign Ministry said. China is not a party to the court.

“China has always had reservations about the International Criminal Court’s indictment and arrest order against Sudan’s president. We hope the ICC can prudently handle the relevant issue,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.

(Reuters)

After Mugabe’s Exit, Long-Serving African Leaders Ponder Fate

Supporters of long-serving African leaders dismiss parallels with Zimbabwe, where Mugabe’s former deputy – sacked during a power struggle with Mugabe’s wife – is about to take power with military and public backing.

FILE PHOTO: Tanzania’s President elect John Pombe Magufuli embraces outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete (R) during his inauguration ceremony at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, November 5, 2015. Tanzania’s new president Magufuli was sworn in on Thursday, promising to unite the country after a contested vote, create more jobs and drive up economic growth. Looking on are (L-R) Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. Credit: Reuters/Emmanuel Herman/File Photo

Nairobi: Hours after Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was forced out after 37 years in power, Uganda’s president, another former guerrilla in office for more than three decades, was tweeting about pay rises for civil servants and bright prospects for his army tank crews.

Supporters of long-serving African leaders dismiss parallels with Zimbabwe, where Mugabe‘s former deputy – sacked during a power struggle with Mugabe‘s wife – is about to take power with military and public backing.

But Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s tweets, which come amid rising anger at the 73 year old’s attempts to prolong his rule, suggest he is looking south and wondering about his own fate.

“Now that the economic situation in Uganda is improving, the government will be able to look into raising of salaries of soldiers, public servants, health workers and teachers and also deal with institutional housing,” Museveni tweeted on Wednesday.

It was unclear what improvement he meant. Uganda’s faltering economy is growing too slowly to absorb a booming population of 37 million. The number of citizens spending less than a dollar a day has surged to 27%, the statistics office reported in September, up from 20% five years ago.

Museveni’s office was not immediately available for comment on the tweets, but John Baptist Nambeshe, a ruling party lawmaker who opposes the president’s attempts to have an age limit on his post lifted, said there was no coincidence.

“The timing couldn’t have been coincidental. It was to underscore his might, that probably the military is still solidly behind him, unlike in Zimbabwe,” Nambeshe told Reuters.

Museveni may not be alone.

Several African leaders have faced popular opposition in recent years, from Togo, where thousands protested this autumn, to Gabon, where riots broke out last year after President Ali Bongo was re-elected in a disputed vote.

Mugabe‘s fall has raised hopes among opposition politicians that other long-serving leaders will fall, but also stoked fears that those who replace them may be no better.

Aging rulers

President since 1986, Museveni is among Africa’s longest-serving leaders. They include Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang, president for 38 years; Cameroon’s Paul Biya, president for 35 years; Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, president for two stints totalling 33 years.

The Gnassingbé family have ruled Togo and the Bongo family have ruled Gabon for half a century, while the Kabila family have run the Democratic Republic of Congo for 20 years.

Some countries allow only two presidential terms, but several have rolled back such legislation.

In Cameroon, Biya scrapped term limits and cracked down on the opposition. In Congo, Nguesso jailed an opposition leader this year for protesting against the removal of term limits.

Franck Essi, secretary-general of the opposition Cameroon Peoples’ Party, said opposition movements were closely watching events in Zimbabwe.

“Leaders must put in place mechanisms for a democratic and peaceful transition that will allow new leadership. If not, sooner or later, the people who are suffocating will wake up,” he said.

FILE PHOTO: Uganda President Yoweri Museveni (L) decorates his Equatorial Guinea counterpart Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo during the Pearl of Africa medal awards ceremony during Uganda’s ruling party 26th anniversary January 27, 2012 in Kapchorwa district, 287km (172 miles) east of capital Kampala. The Pearl of Africa and Kagera awards are the highest honour reserved for the heads of state, in recognition of contribution to the 1981-1986 National Resistance Movement and army (NRM/NRA) liberation struggle of Uganda. Credit: Reuters

Some places have already seen change. Burkina Faso’s Blaise Compaore was ousted by protests in 2014 as he tried to change the constitution and extend his decades-long rule. In January, Gambia’s erratic ruler Yahya Jammeh fled after regional pressure ended his 22-year reign.

Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down this year after four decades in power; his handpicked successor has pushed out some key dos Santos allies.

For many nations, a Zimbabwe-style switch in the loyalties of the armed forces or a rift in the inner circle represents one of the few ways that rulers might be forced from power. Despite Zimbabwe’s well-established opposition, change didn’t come until Mugabe‘s inner circle fell out over his succession plans, and the military put him under house arrest.

Brigitte Adjamagbo-Johnson, a top Togolese opposition official, said they had hoped for a Zimbabwean-type change of power where the military came over to their side.

“We’d wanted the Togolese army to fight alongside us. We were moved seeing that Zimbabwe’s army and civilian population were all in the streets dancing. That’s what we want in Togo,” she said. “There will be change in Zimbabwe this year and there will be in Togo too.”

“Their turn will come”

A slump in commodities prices has deprived some nations of the resources they have traditionally used to muffle protests. In some cases, corruption has also emptied state coffers.

In central Africa, Congo’s Kabila has repeatedly postponed elections after refusing to step down at the end of his term last year, sparking deadly protests.

Jean-Pierre Kambila, Kabila’s deputy chief of staff, tweeted that Zimbabwe’s protests were a colonial fantasy.

“A fabricated demonstration dreamed up by those who do not accept the liberation of Africa. OtherMugabes will be born. Nothing to worry about,” he wrote.

Uganda, a key Western ally set to begin exporting its substantial oil reserves, removed term limits in 2005 to extend Museveni’s rule.

The east African nation has seen far less violence under Museveni than the two dictators who preceded him. But now tensions are rising as social services crumble and parliamentarians attempt to remove a constitutional age cap that would bar Museveni from standing in the next election.

Police have used deadly force against protesters and repeatedly arrested the main opposition leader. Security forces dragged parliamentarians opposing the bill out of the legislature. On Wednesday, police raided a popular newspaper, detaining eight staff.

FILE PHOTO: Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame (L), Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (C) and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe attend the inauguration ceremony of Tanzania’s President-elect John Magufuli at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, November 5, 2015. Credit: Reuters

Okello Oryem, Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, dismissed any parallels with Zimbabwe, saying Mugabe‘s overthrow was the result of Western interference.

“The intelligence services of the West have worked day and night to bring down Zimbabwe,” he told Reuters. “Citizen pressure in Zimbabwe can only work if and when the army allows it.”

But another Ugandan opposition leader, Asuman Basalirwa, warned that national leaders who refused to step down risked plunging their countries into conflict. Military intervention to end dictatorships ultimately leads to more repression, he said, something that many feared might be in store for Zimbabwe.

“It is time for the continent to democratise,” he said. “Those who have not yet experienced what happened in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and now Zimbabwe should just wait for their turn because it will surely come.”

(Reuters)

Gabon’s Thriving Hip-Hop Scene Is Its Political Force

In Gabon, rap has become instrumental in constructing political identity.

Duo Movaizhaleine and artist Wonda Wendy take a minute’s silence to honor the dead during a concert in Paris, February 2017. Credit: Silber Mba

In Gabon as in other African states, rap has become instrumental in constructing political identity.

On August 17, Gabon celebrated 57 years of independence with a massive free concert in the capital, Libreville. The aim: to promote national unity in a festive fashion. An impressive lineup of local hip hop stars – including Ba’Ponga, Tris, Tina and Ndoman – were invited to draw in the younger crowds.

The celebrations held particular significance in light of another, darker anniversary. Last year on August 31, a shockingly violent crisis erupted following President Ali Bongo’s contested electoral victory.

One year on, the country is still feeling the social, political and economic effects, as is its rap scene.

Violent demonstrations

In the early 1990s, Gabon’s government was shut down by violent demonstrations and a general strike. It forced dictator Omar Bongo, who had been in power since 1967, to set up a national conference reestablishing a multiparty system and granting greater freedom of expression.

Against the backdrop of this popular uprising, the youth of Libreville began writing rap music. Inspired by American hip hop artists like Public Enemy and NWA, and French rappers like NTM and Assassin, they expressed their need for escape, freedom and change.

http://https://youtu.be/5NbPufw5Sj0

Yet this subversive scene hasn’t been totally exempt from the kinds of ties between music and politics that have existed since the onset of African independence in the 1960s. In fact, some protest rappers have links to the “system” through family ties with political elites. V2A4, for example, is made up of the son of the Interior minister (a close relative to former president Omar Bongo) and the child of a local businessman. Both study in France and live off the wealth of the “system”.

Bling Gabon style

From the 2000s on, inspired by gangsta rap, video clips have started to feature more gold chains, souped-up cars, women in suggestive poses and virile displays of masculinity.

http://https://youtu.be/Xh8TrzV0WBg

Ushered in by bling style rapper Kôba, a new generation of rappers began to write songs that deviated from the protest-driven hip hop of their predecessors. This trend was encouraged by the appearance of new record labels, with close ties to the government and elites, further reinforcing the link between music and politics.

This fusion between music and politics reached new highs during the 2009 election. Presidential candidate Ali Bongo used the popularity of rap artists to attract youth support and distinguish himself from his father, Omar, who had died in June that year.

Following his election in 2009, Ali Bongo brought new faces from the world of hip hop into the government. Due to these kinds of affiliations, Bongo’s semi-authoritarian regime has exercised particularly tight control over the hip hop scene, in particular via the media.

Without jobs

Right from the start, Bongo’s first seven-year term in office was marked by a decline in living standards and social infrastructure and continuing high unemployment levels – more than 20% of the population, and 35% of young people are without jobs. This, while the Bongo family’s spending has reached outrageous highs.

Censorship and the co-option or silencing of opposition have become increasingly common. Dissenting hip hop artists now have to find alternative ways to spread their messages.

Most subversive rap is now produced abroad, with several well-known Gabonese rappers making their music in China, South Africa, the US or France. These artists-in-exile form a highly political network. Their songs reach the streets of Libreville through social media, becoming calls for political debate and action.

http://https://youtu.be/LKcndEmtgxA

Back home, many artists continue the fight in spite of censorship. In 2015, outspoken rapper Keurtyce E became the first to release a song openly opposing the current regime.

http://https://youtu.be/Xegaw8aX3B4

Beyond the lyrical content of these songs, Gabonese artists ingeniously use the musical arrangements to subversive ends.

Clever use of sampling

Sampling, cutting and looping allow artists to anchor their music within the local context, by using samples from traditional instruments or famous local songs, for instance. These techniques also carry political meaning, with artists mixing in lyrics, musical samples or slogans from activist musicians who they see as their ideological forebears.

Pierre-Claver Akendengué, for example, an icon of 1960s pan-Africanism and resistor to the authoritarian regime during the one-party system, remains a major source of inspiration for Gabonese musicians today.

http://https://youtu.be/MEwxWBLH_ao

Rapper/producer Lord Ekomy Ndong recently demonstrated another means of subversion. In a new song in which he samples excerpts from a speech by President Ali Bongo, juxtaposed with the words of social media activists, to condemn corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

http://https://youtu.be/ftTkuAYd7WQ

Flareups on social media

During last year’s election, a great rift appeared in the rap scene between supporters and opponents of the president. A series of flareups on social media and diss-and-response songs deepened the divide.

Bongo had his praise singers:

But Bongo’s opponents were as vocal:

http://https://youtu.be/5QBfgrBse4w

Rappers who had previously cooperated with Bongo joined opposition movements to demonstrate their disappointment with government failures. It intensified after troops opened fire on demonstrators following the release of the election results. Several people were killed and numerous others disappeared.

Just two months after this crackdown, Kôba, former poster boy for the system, released the song “Odjuku”. The title is a reference to Bongo’s supposed Nigerian biological father. The rapper reignited the controversy surrounding the president’s origins and joined other artists in declaring “On ne te suit pas” (We don’t follow you).

http://https://youtu.be/cTnWr-KAuoU

One year on, the government is trying to make people forget its quagmire with events such as the massive August 17 free concert.

Yet, the protest movement is still active: demonstrations continue within striking government departments and at Libreville University. In the streets of Paris and New York, Gabonese expats rally together.

http://https://youtu.be/aDRsblFf4gk

Through their songs, rappers like Lestat XXL and Lord Ekomy Ndong, commemorate the sorrowful anniversary of the 2016 repression:

Here no one will forget. We’ll hoist up the flame…
No red on my flag. Nothing will ever be the same.

Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for Fast for Word.

Alice Aterianus-Owanga is a Postdoctoral researcher in Anthropology in University of Lausanne. She is the author of Rap Was Born Here! Music, Power and Identity in Modern Gabon, published by Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, September 2017.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Dear Donald Trump, This Is What a Rigged Election Looks Like

Donald Trump is wrong: the US election can’t be rigged. But it’s a different story in Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Gabon and Mexico.

Voting doesn’t mean much in Kazakhstan. Credit: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

Throughout the 2016 campaign, Republican Party nominee Donald Trump has consistently claimed the US election will be rigged. Trump has said he will accept the outcome of the vote on November 8, if he wins. But he has not confirmed whether he will accept a Hillary Clinton victory as valid.

Experts agree that it is almost impossible to rig a US election due to the complex, distributed electoral system, and the sheer number of people involved in overseeing it.

But that’s not the case everywhere. In many parts of the world, ballot boxes are routinely stuffed, opposition parties silenced and voters intimidated.

The Conversation asked scholars from countries where electoral fraud has happened, from Kazakhstan to Mexico, to explain what a rigged election really looks like.

The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary – but also at many polling places – SAD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a long way from the centre of global politics. It is largely known for British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakhstani alter-ego, Borat, as well as the vast amounts of oil it produces, or perhaps its nuclear weapons withdrawal in the 1990s.

But there is a connection between the Republican nominee and the Central Asian oil state: the Financial Times has published an investigation into links between ex-officials of Kazakhstan and the building of Trump Tower.

Kazakhstan does hold elections: to local authorities, to the lower chamber, to the parliament and to the presidency. In theory, we are not an absolute kingdom or khanate. At least not yet.

Kazakh youth perform at a campaign rally in 2015. Credit: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

But the elections that take place are often rigged. Elections are held not to provide the people with representatives, but to create a façade of democracy for the West. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe regularly observes elections in Kazakhstan and its reports are damning. In their assessment of the 2015 presidential election, observers stated:

Serious procedural deficiencies and irregularities were observed throughout the voting, counting and tabulation processes, including indications of ballot box stuffing.

As a result, the ruling party, Nur Otan, won 81% of the parliamentary vote in 2016 and President Nursultan Nazarbayev won with 97.7% of the vote in the 2016 presidential election.

The current president doesn’t participate in TV debates. The constitution, meanwhile, conveniently states that presidents can only serve two terms – except the first president. Nazarbayev has been in power since 1989 and was elected the country’s first president following Kazakh independence in 1991.

In addition to fraud on election day, parliaments are often dissolved or declare voluntary dissolution.

There is no doubt that the people of Kazakhstan have lost trust in the electoral system. But still, we have hopes for honest elections in the future.

Gabon

A self-fulfilling prophecy, Gabon’s presidential election on August 27, 2016, resulted in chaos. After the proclamation of the victory of incumbent president Ali Bongo with 49.8% of the vote, over his rival, Jean Ping, who had 48.2%, the country descended into serious riots.

The national assembly was partially burned, shops were looted, barricades were set up. Throughout the country, 1,000 people were arrested; the headquarters of Jean Ping were attacked by security forces and three people were killed in the capital, Libreville.

Gabon’s charred National Assembly. Credit: Reuters

This violence was a reaction to the insurmountable paradox of the Gabonese state. It showed how fed up Gabonese people had become, having been confronted yet again by routine systemic fraud, which is understood locally as “electoral adjustment”. This is at its worst in the region of Haut-Ogouué, Bongo’s family’s stronghold, where turn-out was a suspicious 99.9%.

The riots have highlighted the lack of transparency in the electoral process and the widespread hatred for Bongo.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, general elections have been rigged since the 1970s, through gerrymandering and malapportionment, to keep the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), in power. This is mainly done by the electoral commission, the body established to conduct the elections. The BN has not lost an election since independence.

In the most recent general election, in 2013, the opposition won the popular vote with 52% versus the BN’s 47%. But under the first-past-the-post system, this mean the opposition only held 40% of the seats in the Malaysian parliament and the BN was returned to power.

Several academic studies confirmed what is widely known: without the gerrymandering, the opposition would have won government with a clear parliamentary, as well as a popular majority.

After the result, the opposition organised mass rallies around the country, hoping to build a “people power” movement to push out the government. In the first few weeks, thousands turned out for the rallies. But after three months, people were no longer interested in the rallies when it was clear the BN was unwilling to give up power.

Another significant factor was a lack of support from rural people. Most of the demonstrators were from the young, urban population. The biggest factor in voter apathy towards the rigged results was, simply, apathy and indifference. The BN’s long history, more than half of century, of rigging elections was now considered commonplace. In other words, the governing party’s cheating was considered “normal”.

A woman wears a headband that says ‘People’s Uprising’ in Kuala Lumpur. Credit: Samsul Said/Reuters

Looking ahead, it will take a new generation of Malaysians to demand a fairer electoral system. Whether this will happen remains uncertain given the political culture. The rise of political Islam has added a complication – many Muslims who are disheartened by the present system are willing to consider an Islamic system to replace the current system.

Mexico

Electoral fraud has not been a problem in Mexico for many years. But that was not always the case.

Mexico’s 1988 presidential election is widely seen as fraudulent – both in terms of how the then hegemonic party, the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) outspent its two main competitors and in how the votes were counted and the results reported.

Politicians from the PRI had won every senate, gubernatorial and of course, presidential race since its founding in 1929, many of these with huge margins. But due to a severe economic crisis and painful economic restructuring in the decade of the 1980s, Mexican voters were angry at what they deemed a corrupt and inefficient system.

On the night of the 1988 elections, the district results began to flow in from district counting centres to the Federal Electoral Commission, then a non-autonomous federal agency whose head was the minister of governance, a position appointed by the president.

These first set of results did not favour the PRI’s presidential candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, so the secretary of governance apparently made a decision to halt the reception of the results and reported that the FEC’s computer had gone down (“se cayó el sistema”), rendering it impossible to continue giving preliminary vote counts.

When the computer came back online several hours later, the PRI’s candidate was declared the victor with a majority of votes (50.36% versus 31.12% for the candidate of the left coalition and 17.07% for the center-right opponent).

A woman holds a sign saying ‘Go away, Salinas criminal’ in Mexico City, 1999. Credit: Reuters

Under Mexican electoral law at that time, the newly elected legislature had the right to determine whether the presidential elections were binding and since the PRI won the majority in the House, Salinas was declared the victor. When opposition deputies claimed fraud and demanded that the presidential votes be recounted, the PRI majority (with many members of the center-right opposition party acceding) ordered the ballots to be burned, so it impossible to know who won the presidential election of 1988.

Nygmet Ibadildin is an Assistant Professor at the KIMEP University; James Chin is the Director at the Asia Institute & Prof of Political Science, University of Tasmania; Joseph Tonda is Professeur de sociologie et d’anthropologie, Université Omar Bongo de Libreville and Joy Langston is a Professor at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Gabon Gets New Government After Winning a Disputed Election

President Ali Bongo became leader in 2009 on the death of his father, who ruled for 42 years. The win gives Bongo another seven years in office.

A still image from video shows Gabon President Ali Bongo being interviewed in Libreville, Gabon, September 24, 2016. Credit: Reuters/ Reuters TV

Libreville: Gabon‘s prime minister on Sunday named a new government in the wake of disputed elections, but it contained no representatives of opposition leader Jean Ping, who says the vote was rigged.

According to a government statement, the only opposition leader named in Prime Minister Emmanuel Issozet Ngondet’s cabinet of 40 people is Bruno Ben Moubamba, who came in a distant third in the August 27 vote.

Moubamba was chosen as deputy prime minister and minister for urbanisation and social habitats.

President Ali Bongo was declared the election winner by fewer than 6,000 votes. France called for a recount and the EU said it found anomalies in Bongo’s stronghold province of Haut-Ogooue, where he won 95% on a 99.9% turnout.

Bongo became leader in 2009 on the death of his father, who ruled for 42 years. The win gives Bongo another seven years in office.

Ping said last week he did not recognise Bongo’s legitimacy and called for talks on his own terms to form a new republic, spurning an offer of dialogue by the president.

Most members of the new government came from the ruling party, despite previous statements by the government that it sought a political opening with the opposition. The cabinet includes 12 women.

Gabon Opposition Leader Challenges Vote After Narrow Loss

Jean Ping said in a statement he would seek a recount in the province of Haut-Ogooue, a stronghold of the Bongo family.

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba votes during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon, August 27, 2016. Reuters/Gerauds Wilfried Obangome/Files

Libreville: Gabon‘s opposition leader lodged a constitutional court challenge on Thursday against a presidential election he narrowly lost, hoping to overturn a result whose validity has been questioned at home and abroad.

Former foreign minister, Jean Ping lost the August 27 election to President Ali Bongo, by fewer than 6,000 votes, an outcome that sparked days of riots in which at least six people were killed.

Ping’s spokesman said in a statement he would seek a recount in the province of Haut-Ogooue, a stronghold of the Bongo family, who have ruled the central African oil-producing nation of 1.8 million for nearly half a century.

The poll and its aftermath have shone a rare and unwelcome international spotlight on Gabon, a former French colony where petrodollars, invested by foreign firms including Total and Royal Dutch Shell, have mostly benefited the elite.

France, which still has a military base the country, reiterated calls for a recount, a foreign ministry spokesman saying a “transparent, impartial examination of the results” was needed to resolve the political crisis.

Bongo has said only the court can consider that request, while foreign minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet said an African Union (AU) mediation mission, due to arrive in the now becalmed capital Libreville on Friday, had been postponed until further notice.

The mission‘s head, Chad’s President Idriss Deby – who took power in 1990 and is one of Africa’s longest serving rulers – was “tired” after attending a summit in China, the minister said.

Opposition parties in Africa frequently dispute elections citing fraud and, while it is unusual for foreign governments to press for further scrutiny after an election has been declared, results are rarely overturned.

Ping has also said he says he has little faith in the court, his only legal avenue for redress and which he says is tied to the government.

Anomalies

Criticism of the poll has focused on Haut-Ogooue, where results showed 95.46% of voters backed Bongo on a turnout of 99.9%, more than double the participation rate of other regions.

The president, who has in turn accused the opposition of cheating, was re-elected after coming to power in 2009 on the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled for 42 years.

Ping says the Haut-Ogooue numbers were inflated to give Bongo victory, and the EU has also reported anomalies.

Sarah Crozier, EU election monitor spokesman, said on Thursday the official turnout for Haut-Ogooue indicated just 47 abstentions out of more than 71,000 registered voters.

Election uncertainty may complicate Gabon‘s adjustment to lower oil prices and that could have implications for the country’s credit profile, Fitch Ratings agency said on Thursday.

Gabon produces 200,000 barrels of oil per day.

Critics of Bongo say he has not done enough to redistribute the wealth of that production beyond a small elite.

Bongo has accused the opposition of cheating in its turn and said on Wednesday he would ask the constitutional court to investigate irregularities in Ping’s stronghold and elsewhere.

Ping, a former African Union Commission chairman, was an ally of Omar Bongo but fell out with his son and resigned from the ruling party in 2014.

(Reuters)

Gabon: President Under Scrutiny As EU Raises Doubts Over Poll Win

Opposition leader Jean Ping has said the has said the election was stolen and the number of votes cast in southeastern Haut-Ogooue province were inflated to give victory to Bongo.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba addresses the media at Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya, April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba addresses the media at Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya, April 30, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya

Libreville: Gabon’s re-elected president, Ali Bongo, came under international scrutiny on Tuesday as a European Union mission questioned the validity of his narrow win, France recommended a recount and the African Union said it would send mediators.

Opposition leader Jean Ping, who has said the election was stolen, called on “the international community to help the people of Gabon,” telling Reuters on Tuesday: “Everybody knows the result and everybody knows that Bongo is doing everything not to accept it.”

Ping has said the number of votes cast in southeastern Haut-Ogooue province were inflated to give victory to Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil-producing country for almost half a century.

At least six people died in riots in the capital, Libreville, and other cities in the days after the announcement of results from the August 27 election, which gave Bongo the victory over Ping by about 5,000 votes. Calm has since returned to the streets.

Ping said on Tuesday that between 50 to 100 people were killed since last week in Libreville. There was no independent confirmation of the figure.

Election monitors have focused on Haut-Ogooue, a Bongo stronghold, where official figures showed he won 95.46% of the vote on a 99.9% turnout.

The EU observer mission said the number of non-voters and blank or invalid ballots were at variance with the reported participation rate, adding turnout in other regions was around 48%.

“The integrity of the provisional results for this province is consequently put into question,” said Mariya Gabriel, the EU’s chief observer of the polls.

A government spokesman told Reuters he would not comment on the EU statement until Wednesday.

Opposition parties in Africa frequently say votes are rigged, but the results are rarely overturned and it is unusual for a president once declared winner, as in this case, to face significant international pressure over the election.

The African Union said it would send a delegation to Gabon likely to be led by Chad’s Idriss Deby, one of Africa’s longest-ruling presidents and the current chair of the pan-African body.

Ping, a former diplomat and African Union Commission chairman, said he had been told the delegation would arrive on Thursday.

He said he had no faith in the constitutional court because it was tied to the Bongo family and he wanted a recount done under international supervision before any appeal to that court.

Manuel Valls, prime minister of former colonial power France, suggested a recount would be wise and urged authorities to help locate about 15 of its nationals – out of a local French community of around 14,000 – it says are missing.

The government has dismissed all calls to publish more detailed results, prompting the justice minister to resign.

Increased concern

A main opposition complaint is that Gabon’s oil wealth has not been shared fairly among its 1.8 million population. Shopkeepers and government staff returned to work on Tuesday.

Parliament also resumed, with lawmakers gathering sombrely in the Senate building after part of the National Assembly complex was badly damaged during last week’s protests.

France has in the past intervened in its former African colonies, such as when it helped oust Cote d’Ivoire’s then-president, Laurent Gbagbo, in 2011 after he refused to concede defeat in an election.

But it has ruled out intervention in Gabon where it has a military base.

Up to 1,100 people were arrested last week during the unrest, according to the interior minister, although many have since been released.

UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday the organisation was following the situation in Gabon with “increased concern”.

(Reuters)

Gabon Re-elects President, Protestors Set Parliament on Fire

Bongo won 49.80% of votes, compared to 48.23% for Ping, with a turnout of 59.46%, according to results announced region by region by interior minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya.

Gabonese opposition candidate Jean Ping greets supporters outside his campaign headquarters after proclaiming that he won the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon, August 28, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Gerauds Wilfried Obangome

Libreville: Demonstrators in Gabon clashed with police and set part of the parliament building on fire on Wednesday as anger boiled over among opposition supporters at President Ali Bongo‘s re-election in polls that his main rival, Jean Ping, claimed to have won.

Opposition members of the central African oil producer’s electoral commission rejected Saturday’s first-past-the-post election result, which would see the Bongo family’s nearly half-century in power extended another seven years.

The election followed a bitter campaign.

Gabon’s economic troubles, caused by falling oil output and prices, have led to budget cuts in one of Africa’s richest nations and fuelled opposition charges that its 1.8 million people have struggled under Bongo‘s leadership.

France, the US and the EU all urged calm and called upon Gabonese authorities to release the results of individual polling stations for greater transparency, while the UN also urged restraint.

Bongo won 49.80% of votes, compared to 48.23% for Ping, with a turnout of 59.46%, according to results announced region by region by interior minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya.

“This victory by such a tight score obliges … each of us to respect the verdict of the ballot box and our institutions,” Bongo said in the text of a victory speech distributed to reporters.

“Our country is advancing and that advance must take place with the unity and peace so dear to the Gabonese people.”

Soon after the result was announced on state-owned television, riot police fired teargas in clashes with around 100 opposition supporters in one neighbourhood in the capital Libreville, according to a Reuters witness.

Police and soldiers, meanwhile, were stationed at most crossroads and petrol stations.

Protesters entered the grounds of Gabon’s parliament building, the National Assembly, late in the afternoon.

“The demonstrators entered from the back and set fire to the National Assembly … Part of the building is on fire,” said another witness, who asked not to be named out of fear of reprisal.

Firemen were attempting to put out the blaze, he said. But as night fell the flames remained visible from a distance.

Several Libreville residents said social media, including Facebook and Twitter, were no longer functioning.

Gabon’s main cities had been on edge since Tuesday, with residents stockpiling food ahead of the expected announcement, which was later postponed by one day.

International concern

“In this election, we committed ourselves to liberating our country. And that is the choice that was clearly expressed by the Gabonese people,” Ping said in a statement released late on Wednesday in which he rejected the election result.

He accused ruling party members of the electoral commission of inflating turnout figures and votes in favour of Bongo in order to hand victory to the president. The claim could not immediately be independently verified.

Commission members belonging to the opposition abstained from a vote that validated the election result.

Ping’s party had earlier said its tally showed their candidate won 59% of the vote versus 38% for Bongo, with only one province left to count, a claim the government condemned as an effort to destabilise the country.

Ali Bongo was first elected in 2009 after the death of his father Omar, who ran Gabon for 42 years. He benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse.

Though voting on Saturday was generally peaceful, Bongo and Ping’s supporters traded accusations of fraud.

An EU observer mission sent to monitor the polls criticised a “lack of transparency” among institutions running the election and said Bongo had benefited from preferential access to money and the media.

Former colonial ruler France’s foreign ministry said the manner in which the final results were announced on Wednesday was a source of concern.

“We think it is necessary to publish the results of all the polling stations. The credibility of the election as well as Gabon’s international reputation are at stake,” it said.

The statement was echoed by the US Department of State, which urged all sides to “temper their rhetoric and encourage their supporters to remain calm”. It also called upon Gabon’s security forces to exercise restraint.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he called “on all political leaders to address their differences peacefully and to address any disputes they may have through existing constitutional and legal channels.”

Ban also called on the authorities to ensure that the national security forces exercise restraint in their response to protests, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Ping, a life-long political insider who has served as foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman, was a close ally of Omar Bongo and fathered two children with the late president‘s daughter, Pascaline.

(Reuters)

Both Sides Claim Victory in Gabon Presidential Election

The rival sides also traded accusations of fraud, raising the prospect of increased tension in the wake of an uncharacteristically bitter campaign.

Opposition presidential candidate Jean Ping votes during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon, August 27, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Erauds Wilfried Obangome

Libreville: Supporters of Gabon’s President Ali Bongo and his chief rival Jean Ping both said on Sunday they were set to win a presidential election that has proved to be the most serious challenge yet to the Bongo family’s half-century rule in the tiny, oil-rich nation.

The rival sides also traded accusations of fraud allegedly committed during Saturday’s vote, raising the prospect of increased tension in the wake of an uncharacteristically bitter campaign.

Despite the interior minister warning candidates that giving results ahead of the official announcement was against the law, Ping, 73, the president’s chief challenger, distributed figures showing him easily beating Bongo.

“The general trends indicate we’re the winner of this important presidential election,” Ping told reporters and a large crowd of cheering supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in the capital Libreville.

“Despite numerous irregularities… you have managed to thwart this regime’s congenital traps of fraud,” he said.

Bongo, 57, who first won election after his father Omar died in 2009 after 42 years in office, has benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse.

Gabon’s one-round election means the winner simply requires more votes than any other candidate. In 2009, Bongo won with 41.73% of the vote.

Addressing Ping’s declaration, Bongo warned his rival against pre-empting the result by claiming victory before an official announcement.

“You must not sell the skin of the bear before you’ve killed him,” he said, speaking at one of his campaign offices in Libreville. “In any case, I am confident.”

Minutes earlier, his spokesman Alain Claude Bilie By Nzé told journalists that Bongo was leading in five out of Gabon’s nine provinces.

In comments broadcast overnight on state-owned television, the spokesman went even further, stating that Bongo was poised to win another term in office.

“Even if no figure can or should be given at this stage, we are, in light of information we are receiving, able to say that our candidate… will claim victory,” he said.

Bilie By Nzé also said ‘massive fraud’ had been observed during the vote, particularly in polling stations located in opposition strongholds.

A statement released by the interior ministry on Sunday acknowledged irregularities but offered little detail.

“The elections were calm and without major conflict… In spite of fraud noted in some polling stations, the process is satisfactory and positive for all of the observers,” it said, adding that official results would be announced on Tuesday.

High-profile defections

An oil producer with a population of less than two million, Gabon is one of Africa’s richest countries.

However, declining oil output and falling prices have resulted in budget cuts and provided fodder for opposition claims that the average person has struggled under Bongo’s leadership. His re-election bid was also hobbled by a series of high-profile defections from the ruling party.

Ping, one of ten candidates contesting the poll, is a former foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman, who was a close ally of Omar Bongo.

Some opposition supporters have called into question Bongo’s Gabonese nationality, claiming he was adopted from eastern Nigeria as a baby, a charge that risks fuelling xenophobic sentiment and which the president denies.

(Reuters)