#时事热点头条说#
Four days after the election ended and the current president Ali Bongo Ondimba announced his second re-election, the Gabonese military staged a coup d'état, announcing the cancellation of the presidential election results and the dissolution of the Gabonese government.
It is reported that although the military overthrew the government, it is not known which political forces in Gabon they support.
Located on the west coast of Central Africa, Gabon covers an area of about 267,000 square kilometers and has a population of about 2.2 million, compared to other poor brothers wallowing in deserts and rainforests, Gabon, with a GDP per capita of more than South Africa and a whopping $8,200, is one of the richest countries in Africa, with abundant oil, timber and mineral resources.
Ali Bongo
On August 17, 1960, Gabon declared independence from France and established the First Republic, establishing a presidential political system, but the country has been ruled by the Bongo family since 1967.
The founder of the Bongo family was Omar Bongo, an agent of the French intelligence service who later became president of Gabon and ruled for 42 consecutive years, because of his considerable achievements in politics and economics, he was called the "father of innovation" by the people of Gabonese until his death in 2009.
But in the eyes of some Westerners, Omar Bongo is considered one of Africa's longest-lived dictators and one of Africa's richest men.
Omar Bongo
Omar has been accused of embezzlement, embezzlement, abuse of power, suppression of opposition, among others, and the current president, Ali Bongo, is the son of Omar Bongo, who inherited his father's position in 2009 and won a second re-election in 2016.
On August 28, 2023, the Gabonese National Electoral Commission (CENAP) announced preliminary election results, showing that Ali Bongo defeated Jean Ping's 48.8% with 51.2% of the vote, successfully achieving a third re-election.
However, this result was immediately met with strong protests and doubts from Jean Ping and his supporters.
AU
The latter pointed out that Ali Bongo and his government carried out massive fraud and manipulation in the election, and that Ali Bongo in Bongo's hometown, Haute-Ogooué, allegedly received 95.5% of the vote, a figure that Jean Ping accused of being false, but in fact in the 2016 general election, Ali Bongo also narrowly defeated Jean Ping, who also refused to recognize the election results at the time.
So judging from these circumstances, this coup is actually not accidental, the opposition and Ali Bongo have been holding grudges for a long time, and the outbreak of contradictions between the two sides is a sure thing.
But the point is that whether the military coup was to support Jean Ping's election or to establish a military junta is unclear.
Jean Ping
In any case, the controversy and conflict in Gabon's third presidential election reflect the deep-seated problems in Gabon's political system and social structure behind Gabon's high level of economic development.
On the one hand, the Bongo family's long-term monopoly on power has led to a series of social problems, and on the other hand, the opposition lacks unity, organization and influence to form an effective mechanism of checks and balances and supervision.
Against this backdrop, the Gabonese people's growing desire for political reform and social justice has led to dissatisfaction with the status quo and has planned an unexpected coup d'état, a coup model that is quite African.
Borrell
At present, apart from the Gabonese people's own choices, the most important thing for the Gabonese government is the attitude of ECOWAS and other major Powers.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that EU defense ministers have begun to discuss the situation in Gabon, and he also said that starting with Central Africa, then Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and now Gabon, the EU must think deeply about the current situation in West Africa to grasp its foreign policy towards these countries.
However, compared with the EU, the outside world is more concerned about France's attitude.
ECOWAS
France's support for Bongo is unquestionable, and in March, Macron chose Gabon for the first leg of his trip to Africa, which the opposition immediately accused of as one of the means by which France supported Bongo, and in this regard, the French visit may have been one of the triggers for the coup.
Macron's visit this year is seen as one of France's means to maintain its control in Africa, and during his visit, protests broke out in many African countries, which intensified the anti-French sentiment of many African people.
This, coupled with Bongo's third re-election under the disputed second term, strengthens the determination of the country's opposition to overthrow Bongo's rule.
Macron
In short, this coup d'état reflects the current situation of France in West Africa, African countries seek pluralistic diplomacy and development pattern is already an indisputable fact, Macron instead of emphasizing in front of Africans that "Africa is not France's back garden", it is better to take the initiative to withdraw while continuing to maintain aid, so as to earn some goodwill.