The opposition in Gabon demands that the junta transfer control to civilians.

On Friday, Alternance 2023, the principal opposition party in Gabon, pleaded with the world community to support the junta that ousted President Ali Bongo in returning power to civilians.Minutes after it was announced that Bongo had won a third term in an election, ending his family’s nearly 60-year rule, military officers overthrew the government on Wednesday.

General Brice Nguema was appointed interim leader and he was put under house arrest.The eighth coup in three years in West and Central Africa brought joyous spectators to the streets of Libreville, the country’s capital…

“We were happy that Ali Bongo was overthrown but… we hope that the international community will stand up in favour of the Republic and the democratic order in Gabon by asking the military to give back the power to the civilians,” Alexandra Pangha, the spokesperson for Alternance 2023, told the BBC.Furthermore, Pangha called the junta’s proposal to appoint Nguema as head of state on Monday “absurd.

“After his father passed away in 2009, Bongo assumed the throne in 1967. Critics claim the family did not do enough to distribute Gabon’s mining and oil wealth.