Gabon's new strongman General Brice Oligui Nguema on Friday vowed the country's institutions would be more democratic, two days after heading a coup that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family. "The dissolution of the institutions" decreed on Wednesday during the coup "is temporary", he said in a speech. "It is a question of reorganizing them in order to make them more democratic." Oligui also stepped up contacts with national groups and foreign interests, meeting members of civil society a day after a speech to 200 businessmen, whom he lectured on corruption.
Broadcast on state television earlier Friday, he sternly warned business leaders in the oil-rich state against "over-billing" and told them to commit to the "development of the country. "It is difficult to perceive, at this stage, your commitment or patriotism when it comes to the development expected by our compatriots," Oligui said. He vowed to make sure the overcharged money "comes back to the state. "This situation, for me, cannot continue, and I will not tolerate it".
He also invited foreign donors, diplomats and members of international organizations to meet with him. Details of that meeting remained unclear. Embassies of countries or organizations that have condemned the coup told AFP that they did not send their most senior representatives, but rather officials of a lesser rank.
Bongo overthrown
Oligui, the head of the elite Republican Guard, on Wednesday, led officers in a coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled for 55 years. The ouster came just moments after Bongo, 64, was proclaimed victor in presidential elections at the weekend – a result branded a fraud by the opposition. The coup leaders said they had dissolved the nation's institutions, canceled the election results and closed the borders
Oligui is due on Monday to be sworn in as "transitional president". But other countries have not acknowledged him as Gabon's legitimate leader and he faces pressure to spell out his plans for restoring civilian rule.
France's Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu meanwhile told Le Figaro newspaper that Paris had suspended military cooperation with the new regime. France has around 400 soldiers in Gabon who train the country's army. "At present, their activities have been suspended while awaiting clarification of the political situation," said Lecornu in an article posted online Friday evening.
Five other countries in Africa – Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger – have undergone coups in the last three years. Their new rulers have resisted demands for a short timetable for returning to barracks.
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