Gabon’s new military leader, Gen Brice Oligui Nguema, has promised to bring democracy back to the country.
But he didn’t give a date for new elections.
He said that democratic institutions would be restored, and that their suspension was just temporary.
Gen Nguema made this known in a televised address on Friday evening, according to BBC report.
He said “The military would move quickly but surely to avoid elections that repeat the same mistakes by keeping the same people in power.
“Going as quickly as possible does not mean organising ad hoc elections, where we will end up with the same errors.”
However, reacting to the statement, the Gabon’s opposition coalition, Alternance 2023, says the military shows no signs of handing power back to a civilian government and urged the international community to encourage a return to civilian rule.
Truthlive recall that Gabon’s Army officers appeared on state TV in the early hours of Wednesday to say they had seized control, ending the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power in the central African state.
They said they had annulled the results of Saturday’s presidential election, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner.
Although, Mr Bongo removal was celebrated by many Gabon, the African Union and France – its former colonial power which had close ties to the Bongo family, Condemned the act.
The coup in Gabon is the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020, following Niger, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad.