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Counting begins in Gabon election | |
(about 10 hours later) | |
Counting has begun in Gabon, following an election to choose a successor to President Omar Bongo, who died after 41 years in power. | |
Scheduled polling closed at 1700GMT but some stations continued to accept votes after that as they had opened late. | |
Turnout was said to be be high with long queues at some polling stations. | |
President Bongo's son, Ali Ben Bongo, is favourite to succeed but the poll has been marred by the pullout of a number of candidates. | |
Five of the 23 withdrew on Friday and another, Cassimir Oye Mba, pulled out on polling day. | |
He said he did not want to vindicate a "calamitous electoral process which doesn't look like being clean and credible". | |
He was one of the major rivals, along with Andre Mba Obame. | |
Observers | |
In the capital, Libreville, the atmosphere was described as tense throughout the day. | |
Ali Ben Bongo hopes to win over a divided opposition | |
One voter in the Louis district, Tony Rapariga, told AFP: "If Ali wins, we will burn everything. You will not find even 10 of his supporters here. It's impossible for him to win." | |
The results of early counting are expected within hours but the full tally is not due for a few days. | |
There have been more than 300 observers overseeing the vote. | |
Ali Ben Bongo has promised to boost what he says is the prosperity that Gabon enjoyed during his father's years in power. | |
But his rivals say there has been endemic corruption and favouritism in Gabon. | |
Omar Bongo was one of the world's richest men, with a string of properties in France. | Omar Bongo was one of the world's richest men, with a string of properties in France. |
He was an unflinching ally of France and a key element in French influence in Central Africa. | He was an unflinching ally of France and a key element in French influence in Central Africa. |
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says that Ali Ben Bongo is seen as less closely linked to the French elite than his father, despite being educated at the Sorbonne. | BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says that Ali Ben Bongo is seen as less closely linked to the French elite than his father, despite being educated at the Sorbonne. |
He is also somewhat detached from ordinary Gabonese, struggling to speak local languages with real fluency, our correspondent says. | He is also somewhat detached from ordinary Gabonese, struggling to speak local languages with real fluency, our correspondent says. |
Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty. | Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty. |