Gabon's Electoral Commission is
scheduled to announce the winner of last Sunday's presidential election Wednesday.
Security
has been tightened ahead of the announcement as supporters of the two
main opposition candidates began gathering at their offices.
Pierre Mamboundou of the opposition Alliance
for Change and Restoration (ACR) and independent candidate Andre Mba Obame have
both condemned the heavy security presence.
Desire
Ename, publisher of Gabon independent
Echos Dunord newspaper said all of the three leading presidential
candidates have appealed for calm ahead of the electoral body's announcement.
"The
electoral commission is going to meet this morning Wednesday to see of the
result and I think that to make sure that the incumbent and (others) at the
elections will be represented. And they will see the total way the election
went on… and I think we will have the results in the night," Ename
said.
He said one of the
opposition presidential contenders has appealed to his supporters to respect
the electoral commission.
"Mr. Andre Mba Obame asked
his people to be (calm) and to let the electoral commission to work," he said.
Ename
said the ruling party candidate and son of the late Gabonese President is
already claiming victory.
"Mr. Ali Bongo said that he
has won (the election) and that the electoral commission and their officers
should deliver the results," Ename said.
He said the other opposition
candidate heaped praise on his supporters.
"Mr. Pierre Mamboundou
thanked the people for having (confidence in him) and so on and so forth," he
said.
Ename
said Gabonese are anxiously awaiting the results of the vote.
"Most of the people are
waiting for the results to be given. And I think that people are really
determined to see real change in the country," Ename said.
He said partisans of the
ruling party have been unusually quiet.
"There is no explosion of
joy from the part of the PDG (Gabon Democratic Party) the
party in power," he said.
Ename said Gabonese want
equitable distribution of their country's oil-wealth.
"Yes exactly, this is what
they want. They want strong distribution of the wealth of the country. We can't
understand that a country like Gabon (which) is so wealthy but poverty is more
like 90 percent…most of the people live in shanty towns. So there is a total
discrepancy between the wealth of the country and what has been done," Ename
said.
Meanwhile, political
observers say for the first time in as many years, there seems to be no clear
candidate to win last Sunday's vote.