Gabon on Saturday voted in a presidential election pitting Gabonese President Ali Bongo against a veteran politician running on a promise to end a 50-year-old family dynasty.
The election in the oil-rich central African country followed an acrimonious campaign and persistent social unrest, but was carried out in a calm atmosphere with no reports of major incidents.
By evening both parties were claiming victory.
“We can confirm that our candidate, Ali Bongo Ondimba, will win... we are already on our way to a second mandate,” Bongo’s spokesman Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze said.
However, a spokesman for the main opposition candidate Jean Ping said he had more than 57 percent of the vote against less than 40 percent for Bongo, according to an incomplete early estimate by his team.
Shortly after voting began, Ping — a former chairman of the African Union Commission — said that his rival was trying to steal the election.
He alleged that a decision by Gabon’s Constitutional Court on Friday allowed soldiers, who traditionally support Bongo, to “vote several times in several polling centers.”
“We know the other side is trying to cheat. It is up to you to be vigilant,” he told reporters.
However, Bongo’s spokesman said that some of Ping’s supporters in one district of the capital had prevented voters casting their ballots.
“Jean Ping is foolishly not respecting Gabon’s institutions and is preparing to announce false results,” Bilie-By-Nze said on Twitter, using a hashtag which translates as “Shame on Ping.”
Bongo, 57, came to power in a contested election in 2009, following the death of his father Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon for 42 years.
Polling stations began closing from 6pm, with results expected today.
Campaigning was marked by months of bitter exchanges, including accusations — and strenuous denials — that Bongo was born in Nigeria and therefore ineligible to run.
Until recently, Bongo was the clear favorite, with the opposition split and several prominent politicians vying for the top job. However, earlier this month, the main challengers pulled out and said they would all back Ping.
Both candidates have promised to break with the past.
Faced with repeated charges of nepotism, Bongo says that he owes his presidency to merit and years of government service.
One third of Gabon’s population lives in poverty, despite the country boasting one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes of US$8,300 thanks to pumping 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
There has been growing popular unrest in recent months, with numerous public sector strikes and thousands of layoffs in the oil sector.
After Bongo’s 2009 victory, several people were killed, buildings were looted and the French consulate in Port Gentil set on fire.
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