Sudden coup! The President was placed under house arrest within less than 5 hours of being re elected

This president, who has been in power for 14 years, will have to think about how to fully withdraw from the coup.

On the early morning of August 30th, gunshots suddenly rang out during a live broadcast on Gabonese television. A few seconds ago, the host just announced the news that Gabonese President Ali Bongo Wendingba was successfully re elected with 64.27% of the vote.

Around 5am, the Gabonese television signal was briefly cut off. After the signal was restored, the television host had been replaced by more than ten soldiers, many of whom were wearing green berets from the Gabonese Republican Guard. A soldier announced that the election results in Gabon are "invalid". Bongo and his family were immediately placed under house arrest by the Republican Guard.

As a major oil producing country in Africa, Gabon's per capita GDP in 2022 was approximately $8800, making it one of the wealthiest countries in Africa. Just over two weeks ago, Bongo announced at a celebration of Gabon's independence that he would never allow Gabon to become a "hostage" for any subversive regime. Now, this president, who has been in power for 14 years, will have to think about how to fully withdraw from the coup.

·Gabonese soldiers who are announcing a coup, wearing green berets, are members of the Republican Guard.

The councilor is a cousin

A few hours after the coup, a rescue video of Bongo leaked. In the video, Bongo sat alone in the study, looking uneasy and saying, "I have sent a message to all my friends, please speak up. The people here have captured me and my family. My son is nowhere to be found, my wife is in another place, and I am in my official residence."

In the video, Bongo, who had studied abroad in France, chose to use English instead of Gabon's official language, French, to seek help. "Currently, nothing has happened in the official residence, and I don't know what happened. So I urge people to speak up. Really, please make some voices. I thank you, thank you."

·Bongo, who is seeking help in the video.

Outside the presidential palace, the councilors have reached a consensus. On the afternoon of August 30th, the "Institutional Transition and Restoration Committee" established by the coup military announced that the commander of the Gabonese Republic Guard, Brice Oliji Nguema, would serve as the chairman of the committee and the leader of the transitional regime.

In a subsequent public video, Nguema was thrown up by the coup soldiers to celebrate amidst cheers, and later paraded outside the presidential palace surrounded by soldiers. Nguema occasionally takes off his beret to greet his supporters.

·The coup soldiers threw Nguema to celebrate his election as the leader of the Gabonese transitional regime.

En Guima comes from a military family and is Bongo's cousin. After receiving military training in Morocco, he served as a military attach é to Bongo's father and then President Omar Bongo. In 2019, he joined the Gabonese Republican Guard, responsible for intelligence work, and was promoted to Commander of the Republican Guard in just six months.

The Republican Guard is a elite force in Gabon, mainly responsible for high-level security work. A Gabonese politician who has had contact with Nguema said that Nguema is quiet but "very popular among soldiers" and knows how to win military morale. During his tenure, Nguema vigorously promoted the modernization of Gabon's military and established a well-equipped special forces force to "protect the President.".

The outside world knows very little about Nguema's private life. An international organization has found that Nguema purchased no less than three residential properties in Maryland, USA from 2015 to 2018, with a total value of over 1 million US dollars. Some media have questioned Nguema about this matter, and his response was: "I believe that a person's privacy should be respected, whether in France or the United States."

·In 2021, Enguema wore a military uniform.

After serving as the leader of the transitional regime in Gabon, Nguema announced that Bongo "has retired and, like all ordinary Gabonese people, he has various rights." At the same time, a military official publicly accused Bongo's son and several confidants of "treason, corruption, and forging presidential signatures.".

Gabonese coup soldiers have claimed that the "institutional, political, economic, and social crisis" facing Gabon led them to launch the coup. "They claim that the government has not respected the will of the Gabonese people for many years, and this situation must be changed." A local journalist said, "The current situation in Gabon is very tense, and the situation can change at any time, and the Gabonese people have difficulty obtaining necessary information. Many people do not know what has happened."

After the coup, the Chinese Embassy in Gabon issued a consular reminder on August 30th that, given the current situation in Gabon, the embassy has activated a major emergency response mechanism. The embassy reminds all Chinese citizens in Canada not to go out at home and to contact the embassy promptly in case of emergency.

Both father and son generations are presidents

Bongo comes from a famous political family in Gabon. Since Gabon gained independence from French colonizers in 1960, the Bongo family has played an important role in Gabon.

Bongo was born in 1959. His father, Bongo Sr., was the founder of the Gabonese Democratic Party and served as president for over 40 years. Scholars have stated that Bongo has great political talent and vigorously promotes the development of Gabon's petrochemical industry. Under his leadership, Gabon, with nearly 2 billion barrels of oil reserves, quickly became one of the most economically developed countries in Africa, and he was also hailed by many Gabonese as the "father of innovation".

·Omar Bongo

As the eldest son of the President, Bongo was sent to France for education at an early age and graduated from the renowned Paris First University Law School. During his college years, Bongo developed a love for jazz and released a local jazz album called "The New Man" in 1978. He is also a fan of Michael Jackson and organized his concert in Gabon in 1992.

After returning to his home country in 1981, Bongo quickly entered politics and held important positions in the Gabonese Democratic Party. He later joined the Gabonese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was trained by his father as an heir. A Gabonese official who has had dealings with Bongo said that when he was young, Bongo was open-minded and eloquent. "His father often asked him to communicate with party elders and say things he was not convenient to say." Since 1999, Bongo has been serving as Gabon's Minister of Defense.

Bongo has two marriages. The first wife, Collins, came from Los Angeles, USA, and the second wife, Sylvia, was born in Paris, France. They have four children after marriage.

·Bongo and his wife Sylvia.

In June 2009, Old Bongo suddenly passed away. Bongo was immediately nominated by the party as the new presidential candidate. In an interview, he expressed his hope to become a leader who can bring change to Gabon, shouting the slogans of "peace, development, and sharing" during the election. In the end, he was elected as the President of Gabon with a clear advantage.

At that time, although Gabon was still one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, its social problems such as wealth inequality and corruption gradually became prominent, and its excessive dependence on oil exports also limited the speed of Gabon's economic development. In this situation, Bongo expressed his hope that Gabon can embark on the development path of an "emerging economy" and pledged to vigorously promote the development of the domestic private economy.

During his presidency, Bongo maintained a friendly policy towards China. In May 2010, he made his first visit to China and attended the Shanghai World Expo. In the following decade, Bangor visited China four times and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Wuhan University in 2018, becoming an alumnus of Wuhan University. During Bongo's tenure, China Canada economic relations rapidly heated up, and since 2013, China has become Gabon's largest trading partner for several consecutive years.

·Bongo and his wife Sylvia. In 2018, Bango was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Wuhan University.

The two heads of state have decided to elevate the comprehensive partnership between China and Canada to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In response to the recent tense political situation in Gabon, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated at a regular press conference on the 30th that China closely follows the development of the situation in Gabon and calls on all relevant parties in Gabon to start from the fundamental interests of the country and the people, peacefully resolve differences through dialogue, restore normal order as soon as possible, ensure the personal safety of President Bongo, and maintain national peace, stability, and development.

The reasons for frequent coups are complex

On August 30th, a spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary General issued a statement on the situation in Gabon, stating that Secretary General Guterres condemned the "ongoing coup attempt" in Gabon and called on all relevant actors to exercise restraint, engage in inclusive and meaningful dialogue, and ensure that the rule of law and human rights are fully respected. He also called on the coup soldiers to ensure the personal safety of the Gabonese President and his family.

On the same day, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Faki, strongly condemned the coup attempt by the Gabonese side to seize power and encouraged all parties in Gabon to support a peaceful political path and restore democratic constitutional order in the country. The AU Peace and Security Council said it had urgently convened representatives of Burundi, Senegal and Cameroon to discuss the situation in Gabon.

French government spokesperson Verano said that the French side condemns the ongoing military coup in Gabon and "closely monitors the development of the situation", hoping that "the election results can be respected.".

·Military vehicles that appeared on the streets of Gabon after the coup.

In recent years, military coups have erupted in five African countries: Mali, Guyana, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Niger. According to some media, although the political situation in Africa has been relatively stable compared to the 1960s, the recent coups indicate that "the military is returning to the African political stage.".

Scholars have analyzed that the reasons for African coups in recent years have been very complex. From a security perspective, since the outbreak of the Libyan crisis, extremist organizations have expanded their influence in Africa, and some African countries are facing a deteriorating security situation, which has continuously increased the military's influence in domestic politics. From an economic perspective, some African countries have experienced setbacks in their economic development in recent years, leading to a decrease in public trust in civilian governments and providing conditions for coups.

·A pro coup citizen hugged Gabonese soldiers.

After the coup, the Gabonese military announced a curfew, disbanded state agencies, and closed the Gabonese border. The coup party did not provide a specific date for when the transition period could end.

The international community is continuously paying attention to how the Gabonese situation will develop.