PH
A two-year transition period before the promised free elections is a “reasonable objective,” Gabon’s new military rulers’ designated prime minister told AFP in an interview Sunday.
“It’s good to set off with a reasonable objective by saying: we have the desire to see the process come to an end in 24 months so we can go back to elections,” said Raymond Ndong Sima, prime minister during the transition. That period could end up being slightly longer or shorter, he added.
General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the August coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, selected Ndong Sima as leader of the transitional administration last week.
The coup took place on August 30, just hours after Bongo was declared the winner of a presidential election that both the army and the opposition called illegitimate.
Nguema, the transitional president, immediately promised to return the country to civilian control with elections after a transitional phase, the length of which he did not specify.
