Gabon’s opposition challenges election results in court

Gabon’s opposition challenges election results

LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Opposition candidates defeated in last month’s disputed presidential election say they are challenging the results in court.

Over two dozen opposition candidates issued a statement Thursday saying their experts had reviewed the results and found “grave irregularities and fraud” in the vote tallies issued by two-thirds of the country’s polling stations.

Opposition spokesman Jean Eyeghe Ndong read a statement saying the opposition “is waiting for the constitutional court to tell the truth about the results of this presidential election.”

Ali Bongo, the son of Gabon’s long-ruling dictator Omar Bongo, was declared winner of the Aug. 30 poll with 41.7 percent of the vote. His win sparked a fury of protest with angry voters torching dozens of businesses, several markets and a police station.