By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome and Ngouda Dione
LAMBARENE, Gabon (Reuters) – The top opposition candidate in Gabon’s presidential election challenged the eligibility of Brice Oligui Nguema in an interview with Reuters, saying the putschist-turned-frontrunner posed a threat to democracy.
Nguema came to power in the August 2023 coup that ended the Bongo family’s 56-year dynasty in the oil-producing Central African nation. He is widely expected to win the election on Saturday.
“Gabonese democracy is in danger,” Nguema’s main challenger Alain Claude Bilie By Nze told Reuters in the town of Lambarene, 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital Libreville.
“Military personnel were allowed to be candidates, so you have the one who controls the forces, who controls the finances, who controls the state, and who is a candidate,” Nze said.
“We must fight to put an end to this system and send the military back to their barracks.”
Nguema, 50, promised in the days after the coup to hand over power to civilians in a transition back to constitutional rule.
But a new constitution approved in November did not bar Nguema from running and he announced last month that he would be a candidate.
Nguema told Radio France Internationale in March that he had renounced his military status though he has not formally done so. His spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Nze, who was prime minister under President Ali Bongo at the time of the coup, complained of an uneven playing field in the run-up to Saturday’s vote.
“When (Nguema) visits a province, everything stops. All civil servants go to his rallies. It’s a scandal. It’s never happened like this,” he said.
Ali Bongo’s critics accused him of rigging the 2016 vote and brutally quelling protests afterwards.
Nze has created his own movement, “Together for Gabon”, in an effort to distance himself from the Bongo family.
(Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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