The Commonwealth of Nations has condemned the military takeover of power in Gabon, Central Africa, describing it as an incident of deep concern.
The Commonwealth's Secretary General, Patricia Scotland, in a terse statement on her X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday said that the Commonwealth Secretariat was monitoring the situation in the French-speaking African country closely.
According to Scotland, the Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law and the principles of democracy at all times.
Scotland said, "It is deeply concerning to hear reports of an illegal takeover of power in Gabon.
"The Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law & the principles of democracy at all times and the Commonwealth Secretariat will be keenly monitoring the situation.”
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Gabonese soldiers appeared on television on Wednesday announcing they were “putting an end to the current regime”.
They also announced the cancellation of the election that, according to official results, was won by President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
While announcing the cancellation of the results, one of the soldiers said “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved.
Meanwhile, military generals are meeting in the country to decide who will be the new transition leader of the country.
The suspected coup leader of Gabon, Brice Nguema, had said that a meeting of military generals would take place Wednesday at 14:00 GMT to decide the new leader for the country.
He disclosed this in an exclusive interview with the French newspaper Le Monde. Brice Nguema is the leader of the elite Republican Guard and a relative to President Ali Bongo, who was earlier ousted as President in a coup by the soldiers.
When asked in the interview if he saw himself as the country’s leader yet, Nguema said, “I am not declaring myself yet, I am not considering anything at the moment. It is a debate we will have with all the generals. We will be meeting at 2 pm [local time]. The aim will be to reach a consensus. Everyone will put forward ideas, and the best ones will be retained, along with the name of the person who will lead the transition.”