Preliminary results of Gabon's
presidential election are scheduled to begin trickling in Monday.
The
winner of Sunday's vote would replace long-time President Omar Obongo who died
this year of a heart attack in a Spanish clinic.
Ali Bongo, son of the former
president is widely tipped to win the vote despite stiff competition from the
opposition.
Voter turnout was reportedly high in Sunday's vote. But opposition
groups accused the Electoral Commission of ill-preparation, which they claim
favors Bongo, the ruling party's presidential candidate.
Desire Ename, publisher of
Gabon's independent Echos Dunord newspaper said that Gabonese want the election to be free and fair.
"Today,
we are expecting that the results would be given because as of yesterday the
results were counted and now we are expecting that the results will be known.
This is a great expectation of the Gabonese and of the people who are the
results of this election," Ename said.
He
said there were allegations of attempted vote rigging.
"This
is what I have been told that some foreign people were trying to vote (but)
they were caught. It was a very light incident (not widespread)," he said.
Ename
said some polling stations opened late.
"Some
incidents occurred because some voting centers did not open very early. So it
frustrated people to yell and to be very angry," Ename said.
After
a well-funded campaign, Ali Bongo former defense minister and son of the former
president is widely expected to win Sunday's vote despite stiff opposition from
two other presidential candidates.
But
Ename said it was too early to definitively know who won the election.
"I
think that these are pure speculations. I know that so many people have said
that Ali Bongo can win, but in fact the reality shows that the game is going on
between two personalities, Andre Mba Obame and Mr.
Pierre Mamboundou. This is what is really happening in Libreville," Ename said.
He said any candidate that
wins the majority of votes in the capital, Libreville usually wins the general
election.