AFRICA/GABON - This evening, presidential election results expected

Libreville (Agenzia Fides) – This evening, September 2, the results of the presidential election that began on August 30 in Gabon (see Fides 31/08/2009), are expected to appear. The capital, Libreville, is awaiting the results in a state of relative calm, with the main streets being patrolled by the army.
At the close of the vote, the three main candidates for Presidency claimed to have won, increasing tensions for fear of vote-rigging, denounced by the opposition. The three candidates are the son of former President Omar Bong, Ali Bongo; Andre Mba Obame, former Internal Affairs Minister; and Pierre Mamboundou. The see of the electoral committee of Mba Obame and Mamboundou are being surrounded by hundreds of their supporters. Copies of reports from the 3,000 polling stations have been sent to the two centers for an independent verification of the official data.
Yesterday, September 1, the head of the observer's commission from the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), Congolese Catholic priest Father Malu Malu (who has been President of the Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo) asked the government in Gabon and the Autonomous and Permanent National and Electoral Commission (CENAP) to be careful in their tallying of the votes and proclamation of the results.
Father Malu Malu gave credit to local authorities for having made a considerable effort in organizing the elections in such a short amount of time, nearly 2 months after the death of President Omar Bongo.
The head of the observers' mission from the Central African nations noted that there have been “difficulties on the level of organization, from the late start of the voting operations in the majority of the polling stations and the problems of orientation and control of voters at the stations.”
The mission of observers from the CEEAC will present a report to the local authorities on the various phases of the elections this year – before, during, and after voting. Among the recommendations that will be contained in the report are that of making sure the National Autonomous and Permanent Electoral Commission “uses the period in which elections are not being held in order to form the scrutators and compose an accurate voting list.” On the eve of the vote, there was controversy over the composition of the list of voters and the opposition accused the government of “exaggerating” the numbers and adding invented names.
Fr. Malu Malu lastly asked that “the people of Gabon may accept the results in calm and respect for democratic laws, as is the case in all constitutional states.”
The 35 observers sent by the African Union have affirmed that the vote “took place in calm and in conformity with legal guidelines,” although there have been some “irregularities” and “deficiencies.” (LM) (Agenzia Fides 2/9/2009)