Opponent wants president to acknowledge defeat

Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping called on President Ali Bongo on Monday to “acknowledge his defeat” in Saturday’s presidential election, a head-on challenge to the Bongo family’s half-century rule over the oil-rich nation. After publishing numbers on Sunday that showed him comfortably in the lead based on a small percentage of votes, Ping called on […]

Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping called on President Ali Bongo on Monday to “acknowledge his defeat” in Saturday’s presidential election, a head-on challenge to the Bongo family’s half-century rule over the oil-rich nation.
After publishing numbers on Sunday that showed him comfortably in the lead based on a small percentage of votes, Ping called on Monday for Bongo to step down.
“I encourage Ali Bongo to submit to the verdict of the ballot box,” he told a news conference, without providing more voting figures.
Bongo’s camp also says it is set to win and has accused Ping’s supporters of fraud. On Twitter, his spokesman Alain Claude Bilie called Ping’s news conference “the start of an odious attempt at a coup de force”.
Gabonese law forbids candidates from publishing their own results before the official count, expected on Tuesday.