Portugal’s national defense minister said this Wednesday that the Gabon coup d’état and the growing instability on the African continent demonstrate that the idea of security “needs to be looked at 360 degrees.”
“The idea that security should be considered 360 degrees is an idea that Portugal is emphasizing and that, given these signs of instability, needs to be strengthened,” Helena Carreiras said in a statement to Lusa and RTP at the entrance to the unofficial building. Meeting of ministers of the European Union (EU) with the defense portfolio in Toledo (Spain).
There is Portugal’s “very significant work” in Africa, which is taking on new urgency with the growing instability on the continent.
A group of military personnel in Gabon announced on television this Wednesday the cancellation of the presidential election that re-elected Ali Bongo Ondimba on Saturday and the dissolution of all democratic institutions.
The announcement was made in a press release read on the Gabon 24 television channel, owned by the country’s president, by about a dozen Gabonese soldiers.
Noting “irresponsible and unpredictable management, which leads to a constant deterioration of social cohesion, which risks leading the country into chaos (…), it was decided to protect the world by putting an end to the current regime,” said one of the soldiers.
The same military, who said they were speaking on behalf of the Committee for the Transition and Institutional Reconstruction, said that all borders in Gabon were “closed until further notice”.
According to journalists from the France-Presse news agency, during the TV broadcast in Libreville, machine gun fire was heard.
A few hours earlier, in the middle of the night at 3:30 am (same time in Lisbon), the Electoral Center of Gabon (CGE, in French acronym) released the official election results on state television without any prior announcement. presidential elections.
The Electoral Commission said President Ali Bongo Ondimba, in power for 14 years, won a third term in Saturday’s election with 64.27% of the votes cast, defeating archrival Albert Ondo Ossu, who won 30.77% of the vote.
The announcement was made at a time when Gabon was under curfew and Internet access was suspended throughout the country, measures introduced by the government on Saturday, election day.
The government raised the risk of violence following statements by Ondo Ossa, who demanded that he be declared the winner.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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