The recently appointed interim prime minister of Gabon, Raymond Ndong Sima, has been met by the country’s strongman, General Brice Oligui Nguema, in the Presidential Palace in Libreville and given the assignment of putting out a proposed government lineup.
Ndong Sima told AFP shortly after his appointment that he would provide Oligui a recommended government lineup “in three or four days.”
“They’ve given me a roadmap, and I will try to work in the direction that the military have determined… for restoring all our institutions, and especially everything concerning the framework for elections,” he said by phone.
Ndong Sima said he wanted to take time for “broad consultations… so that people belonging to all political families are included” in the government.
General Brice Oligui Nguema, the new strongman who was inaugurated in as interim president on Monday, made his appointment, which was announced on state television, by decree.
In his inauguration speech, Oligui vowed to hold “free, transparent and credible elections” to restore civilian rule, but did not give a timeframe.
He added that he would shortly make the announcement of a transitional administration that would include leaders from all major parties.
A new constitution that is “more respectful of democracy and human rights” would be developed by the nation with input from all major groups and put to a vote, according to Oligui.
Ndong Sima, a 68-year-old economist with a degree from the Sorbonne in Paris, was Bongo’s prime minister from 2012 to 2014 before turning against him and running for president in 2016 and 2023.
After the passing of his father Omar, a kleptocrat who ruled the central African state with an iron fist for more than 40 years, Bongo, 64, assumed power.
He was narrowly re-elected in 2016, according to the hotly contested official results, but two years later he had a stroke that made him less able to hold onto power.
Four days after being declared the winner of a presidential election, Bongo, his wife, and son were arrested on August 30 by soldiers under the command of Oligui, leader of the elite Republican Guard.
Ndong Sima had campaigned against Bongo, but right before the election, he took a step back to support Albert Ondo Ossa, a joint opponent.
In contrast to Bongo’s 64.27 percent of the vote, Ondo Ossa received 30.77 percent of the vote, a figure that the opposition criticised as being fabricated.
Ndong-Sima stated to AFP earlier this week that following the takeover, it was necessary to “speak with the military.”
He stated that the return to civilian government shouldn’t take more than two years, and that he would be “interested” in running in the upcoming presidential elections, which shouldn’t have any military candidates.
