Gabon opposition calls for pressure on junta to hand power to civilians

Gabon’s main opposition group, Alternance 2023, called on the international community on Friday to encourage the junta that overthrew President Ali Bongo to hand power back to civilians.
Military officers seized power in a coup on Wednesday minutes after an announcement that Bongo had secured a third term in an election. They placed him under house arrest and picked General Brice Oligui Nguema as transitional leader.
The junta has said little about its immediate plans after ending the Bongo family’s almost six decades in power, a move that drew cheering crowds onto the streets of Libreville.
Bongo had ruled since 2009, taking over from his father when he died after he had been president since 1967. Opponents say the family did little to share Gabon’s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people, almost a third of whom live in poverty.