TOUGH CHOICE BETWEEN A COUP AND ‘UNELECTED LEADER’

People in Gabon are facing a tough choice between a coup and “unelected leader”, a Gabonese activist Scheena Donia has told the BBC in reaction to the army takeover.

The coup leaders made the statement on national television on Wednesday morning. They said they were annulling the results of Saturday’s election, in which President Ali Bongo was declared the winner.

The electoral commission said Bongo had won just under two-thirds of the votes in an election the opposition argued was fraudulent.

Donia, who lives in France and is also an entrepreneur, told BBC’s Newsday programme that some in Gabon would prefer the coup to Bongo’s continuing leadership. The president’s family has been in power for 53 years, while Bongo himself has held office since 2009.

“Unfortunately there is no other way to have this person and this family leave power in Gabon,” Donia said about the coup.

Nevertheless, the military takeover was “frightening”, she said.