General Brice Oligui Nguema, who overthrew Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Wednesday, August 30, is settling into power. After meeting with business leaders and the diplomatic corps on Friday, he is due to be sworn in on Monday as "president of the transition."
Against this backdrop, the opposition is attempting to defend its claim to victory in the presidential election held on August 26. Albert Ondo Ossa, the candidate for the Alternance 2023 opposition platform, wants his election to be recognized and the military to hand over power. Le Monde spoke with him by telephone on Friday, September 1, while he was at his residence in Libreville, the capital.
I'm asking it to restore republican and constitutional order. The electoral process must be brought to a conclusion, and the results must be announced so that I can become the legitimate president and then the legal president once they have been validated by the Constitutional Court.
I have no doubts about my victory. Everyone has the results, including the diplomatic missions.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Today, I'm a candidate who's the favorite on the basis of the results I have. In order for me to become president of the Republic, the institutions must rule by law.
This is about the Republic, about turning our country around, not about a speed race. The necessary time must be taken and everything must be done so that General Oligui Nguema hands over power to me. There are enough wise men in Gabon capable of acting as interfaces to get us there. There are also principles of international law that must be respected. Otherwise, Gabon would be isolated and unable to extricate itself. There's no doubt that we need to come to our senses.
I think the general has a lot to do, but we'll have time to get together and talk. This will happen at some point. I'm not rushing into anything, and neither is he. Each of us has points to make. Then it will be time to start the negotiation.
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