Support Transparency and Democracy in Gabon
Gabon shouts for help! Stop the electoral coup and support transparency and democracy in Gabon! We, the people of Gabon and its Diaspora in United States of America, are asking for your support in regards to the events that followed the last Presidential Election. In an era of change when many have fought for democracy to prevail, when everyone fight for their voice to be heard; the people of Gabon is being held hostage of a totalitarian regime that now has found a way again to fixe another election . For 41 years, the late President Bongo Ondimba and his peers have lead the country as a private estate and handled public affairs under a totalitarian regime that claimed to be a democracy. All attempts to fight the regime have been vanished with the conspiring eye of the French government. When Bongo Ondimba died, the people whose standard of living has deteriorated overtime had a true dream of hope; we thought that we finally had an opportunity to freely select our leader. Gabon stands among the African countries with a high GDP yet the majority of the population lives at poverty level. Access to education and quality healthcare is substandard to such economic index. This is the reason why every person in age to vote was very enthused and involved during the campaign period. Despites all the issues that arose during the organization of the last election; most were present to vote on Election Day and people were eagerly waiting on the results. For the majority of people, it was a shock when Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of the late president, was proclaimed winner of the election. It was even more shocking when testimonies of fraud or attempt of frauds have fused from several voting centers. The presidential candidates for a democratic change in Gabon have declared to the media that possess official documents that can prove that Mr. Bongo is not the real winner of this presidential race. Once again, our hope was shattered. In the light of all the allegations of fraud that were uncovered during Election Day, many decided to protest the results. The population was in the street asking for a recount. Now, men, women and children, who are trying to be heard, are victims of this new regime. Yes, the ones that stood to protest are now the target of the army. We are in awe as rare were the occasions when the army had to use weapons against our people. In the last months, we witnessed one too many altercations. Many have already lost their lives in the process. We will remember Mbadinga Bounlingui, Thierry Mombo and the 15 unidentified victims of the military brutality as heroesâ�¦ We are asking for a chance to change, a chance to choose a leader, a patriot, a true democrat. We believe that every vote should count; we are asking for transparency in the election process and a path to true democracy. One too many times, our voices, our votes, our hope have been shuttered. We, the people of Gabon and its Diaspora are urging you to sign this I, a member of the Gabonese Diaspora, or a friend of Gabon, am supporting this petition for the following reasons: 1. I would like a recount of the vote based on a cross checking of all the final reports that were distributed to each candidate’s representative at the closing of each polling station; 2. I would like to remind to the international community that the results of the August 30th, 2009 Gabonese presidential election validated by the Constitutional court are not in conformity with the results gathered from the official reports that were signed by each candidate representative at the end of voting; 3. I want the international community, notably the United States, Britain, France and other major powers, to demand that the current regime publish the result of the election based on a recount in conformity with the original results reports. 4. I request the establishment of an independent international commission, with the mission to investigate the killing of protesters in Port-Gentil, Oyem, and anywhere else in Gabon; 5. I would like to inform public opinion that the lives of opposition representatives within the Independent and Permanent Electoral Commission (CENAP) of Gabon are in danger; 6. I would like the current head of the Gabonese Constitutional Court, Mrs. Marie-Madeleine Mbouranstouo, to resign from her office based on the article 89 of the Gabonese constitution, which sets term limits on the Court’s appointees, as well as on the basis of the clear conflict of interest arising from her family linkage with Ali Bongo; petition.
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