00:00 In a stunning development in the Central African nation of Gabon, army officers appeared on
00:07 national television just hours back to say that they have taken power.
00:11 They said they were annulling the results of Saturday's election in which President
00:15 Ali Bongo was declared the winner.
00:18 This bloodless coup has been declared by a group of senior Gabonese military officers
00:22 who have declared that they have seized power, claiming that the recent general election
00:27 lacks credibility and saying that they represent all of Gabon's security and defence forces.
00:33 They also said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and
00:38 state institutions were being dissolved.
00:40 "In the name of the Gabonese people, we have decided to defend the peace by putting
00:44 an end to the current regime," the officers said on live television.
00:49 The group have declared themselves members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration
00:54 of Institutions.
00:55 The state institutions they declared dissolved include the government, the Senate, the National
01:00 Assembly, the Constitutional Court and the election body.
01:04 Gabon's incumbent president Ali Bongo had just won a third term in the presidential
01:08 election with 64.27 per cent of the vote yesterday after a delay plagued the general election
01:15 that the opposition denounced as fraudulent.
01:17 Tensions were already running high amid fears of unrest after Saturday's presidential,
01:22 parliamentary and legislative vote which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family's 56-year
01:28 grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil and coca-rich but poverty-stricken
01:33 nation.
01:34 In 2016, the parliament building was torched when violent street protests had erupted against
01:40 Bongo's contested re-election for his second term.
01:43 The government had shut down internet access for several days at that time.
01:47 This current coup in Gabon, if successful, would represent the eighth in West and Central
01:52 Africa since 2020.
01:54 Coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger have all undermined democratic progress.
02:01 In July, the military had snatched power in Niger, sending shockwaves across the Sahel
02:06 and sucking in global powers with strategic interests at stake.
02:09 -
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