Libreville (Gabon), Apr 14 (AP) The former prime minister of Gabon, who lost a presidential election on Saturday, criticised the outcome as opaque and unfree in a statement to the press on Monday morning.

“What we experienced on Saturday, April 12 was not a free election,” said former Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. "Never, since entering politics, have I witnessed such a hijacking of all State resources."

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Bilie-By-Nze lost to Oligui Nguema, who scored a landslide victory with 90.35 per cent of votes, defeating seven other candidates. Bilie-By-Nze came in a distant second with 3 per cent of the votes.

This was Gabon's first election since the 2023 military coup and was seen as a crucial election for the central African nation's 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.

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Nguema, the former head of the country's Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba in August 2023 in a bloodless coup, ending a 55-year political dynasty begun by Bongo's father, Omar Bongo.

Nguema hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office.

Bilie-By-Nze, who served as prime minister to Ali Bongo for a little over seven months before the coup, wished the new leadership good luck and promised to remain in politics. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)