Gabon court rejects opposition challenge to presidential poll result
Reuters
Published Sep 23, 2016 08:16PM ET
Gabon court rejects opposition challenge to presidential poll result
LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon's Constitutional Court rejected on Friday an opposition challenge to the results of an Aug. 27 election won by incumbent President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil producer for nearly a half century.
The decision raises the prospect of a repeat of the violence that followed the announcement earlier this month of narrow victory for Bongo over opposition leader Jean Ping.
In his petition to the court, Ping, who has claimed he won the poll, alleged fraud in Haut-Ogooue province, where Bongo won 95 percent on a turnout of 99.9 percent. He had called for a recount of votes there.
The court refused to accept copies of vote tally sheets provided as evidence by Ping, many of which it said were illegible.
Bongo's allies submitted evidence to the court rejecting Ping's allegations and countering that the opposition leader had himself orchestrated vote fraud.
The court canceled votes in 21 constituencies in the capital Libreville, but Bongo still won the vote with 50.66 percent of ballots cast.
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Written By: Reuters
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