Family's 50-year rule narrowly wins in Gabon

The tiny Central African nation of Gabon erupted in violence and fire Wednesday after controversial election results declared President Ali Bongo the victor and ensured continuation of a family dynasty that has ruled the oil-rich country for a half-century.

Bongo won a second, seven-year term by a razor-thin margin, claiming 49.8% of the votes to challenger Jean Ping's 48.2% in Saturday's vote, the Gabon election commission said Wednesday. Bongo his victory "exemplary" and said the process was transparent.

"This is a masquerade," Paul Marie Gondjout, a commission member for Ping's Gabonese Progress Party, told Reuters.

"We have never had confidence in the process," added Ping spokesman Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi. "The Gabonese people will not accept these  figures."

Security forces poured onto the streets of the capital, Libreville, and fires burned at the National Assembly building. Protesters clashed with police and burned and looted buildings, the Associated Press reported.

Congo-based Africanews reported that Ping, 73, was demanding a recount in Haut Ogooue, a stronghold province for Bongo that reported a 99.98% turnout.

Both sides had declared victory days ago, with Ping's camp claiming independent tallies showed he won handily.

Bongo's father, Omar Bongo, ruled the nation of less than 2 million people for 42 years until his death in 2009. For many of those years, Ping was a trusted confidant and minister. But he left the government and became a leader of the opposition.

Ali Bongo, 57, was backed by the country's elite as well as leaders of France, which ruled Gabon for more than a century until 1960. Opposition leaders were barred from organizing public rallies in this campaign, a mandate that raised fraud concerns. That heightened tensions ahead of the vote, with increased security present in the capital of Libreville. Security was further tightened Wednesday across the city.

Voters had 11 presidential candidates to choose from, but the race was all about Bongo and Ping. The U.S. Embassy in Libreville issued a statement applauding the people of Gabon for the high turnout and patience at polling sites. But the embassy also called out "many systemic deficiencies and irregularities" such as inconsistent polling hours and procedures.

The European Union's Electoral Observation Mission urged the candidates to discourage violence among their supporters and to take up any concerns through the court system. The mission also warned that the legitimacy of the vote would be "enhanced by the publication of detailed results," including results by polling station.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon issued a statement asking "stakeholders to refrain from inciting or taking part in any acts of violence."

Gabon is wealthy by African standards, with an estimated per capita GDP of $18,600. But the CIA's World Factbook notes that "despite an abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management and over-reliance on oil has stifled the economy." The publication does credit Bongo with "efforts to increase transparency and is taking steps to make Gabon a more attractive investment destination to diversify the economy."

Ping, however, repeatedly warned voters during the campaign that Bongo's Gabonese Democratic Party was unwilling to hand over power and would use bribery or vote-rigging to ensure Bongo's victory.

“We know that Ali Bongo will try to cheat, just like he did in 2009," Ping said recently in a nod to the last election, which sparked a wave of violence and an unsuccessful court challenge. "But we know how he will cheat, and we will do everything to prevent that. We will make sure that the will of the voters will be respected."

Contributing: Alpha Derulo and Thomas Ros from Libreville