General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup last week that toppled Gabon’s 55-year-old dynasty has taken the oath of office as interim president, with promises to hold “free… (and) transparent elections” after an unspecified period.
Oligui, head of the elite Republican Guard, led officers in a coup on Wednesday against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled since 1967.
The ousting came just moments after Bongo was proclaimed victor in last month’s presidential election — a result branded a fraud by the opposition.
“I swear before God and the Gabonese people to faithfully preserve the republican regime,” said Oligui.
Dressed in the red ceremonial costume of the Republican Guard, Oligui also swore to “preserve the achievements of democracy”, at the ceremony held before judges of the Constitutional Court.
He immediately pledged in a speech to hold “free… (and) transparent elections” after a transition period which he did not specify, and to amnesty “prisoners of conscience.”
