Brice Nguema, suspected ringleader of Wednesday’s coup in Gabon has said the mutinous soldiers are meeting at 14:00 GMT to decide the new leader of the Central African country.
The leader of the elite Republican Guard and a relative to President Ali Bongo, was speaking in an interview to French daily Le Monde.
Early on Wednesday, a dozen mutinous soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results that declared Bongo the winner.
“I do not declare myself yet,” Nguema told Le Monde in response to a question about whether he considers himself the new Gabonese head of state. “I do not envisage anything for the moment.”
He said all the generals would debate and decide the next course of action when they meet.“It will be about reaching a consensus. Everyone will put forward ideas and the best ones will be chosen, as well as the name of the person who will lead the transition,” he said.
On what fate awaits Bongo, Nguema said, “He is a Gabonese head of state. He is retired, he enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like everyone else.”Bongo himself said he is under house arrest at his home in the capital Libreville, and he called on citizens to “make noise” after the coup attempt.
Bongo, who had been in power for 14 years, was re-elected for a third term with 64.27 percent of votes cast in the presidential election held on Saturday, according to the national electoral authority.
The soldiers, who called themselves the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, took power after the results were announced, saying “the country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic and social crisis”.
Gabon is one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of GDP per capita, thanks largely to oil revenues and a small population of 2.3 million. But a third of the population still lives below the poverty line of $5.50 per day, according to the World Bank.
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