Gabon coup leader sworn in as interim president
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00:00 Catherine Norris Trent joins us from Libreville just outside the Presidential Palace.
00:04 Catherine, the President has just been sworn in.
00:07 What more can you tell us?
00:09 Hi there Annette.
00:11 Yes, there were euphoric scenes here outside the Presidential Palace in Libreville as this
00:20 inauguration took place.
00:22 Brice Oligier and Gaymer the General, who had been head of the Presidential Guard in
00:26 Gabon, sworn in as transition president just a short time ago.
00:32 And he gave a speech to the nation, which was broadcast on big screens here in the square
00:38 outside the Presidential Palace, saying that the security forces had taken their responsibilities,
00:44 that they had said no to fraudulent elections, and that he quoted Bishop Leit-Age Bishop
00:52 in South Africa saying that if you remain neutral, faced with injustice, you are on
00:57 the side of the oppressor.
00:58 And that he and the armed forces in Gabon had chosen, in his words, to be on the side
01:04 of the people.
01:05 Now in terms of the transition, which he is supposed to be presiding over, he has been
01:10 sworn in as transition president.
01:13 He said that he would be forming a government in the coming days composed of "experienced
01:19 people".
01:20 We didn't get much more detail than that, not how long this transition will last.
01:25 And that will worry some people here in Gabon, some of the public we've been speaking to,
01:29 not outside the palace today.
01:31 People are very gleeful here and are saying that they see this not as a coup d'etat but
01:36 as a liberation.
01:37 But other people elsewhere in the capital that we've been speaking to say that they
01:41 are watching and waiting to see just how long it will take the military leaders to hand
01:46 over power back to civilian rule.
01:49 And the political opposition here in Gabon who says that they won the recent elections,
01:53 well they were calling for them to be declared the winners of the election.
01:58 It doesn't seem like that is the transition plan of the new transition authorities.
02:04 So they perhaps will be disappointed at that.
02:07 I'm waiting for more detail.
02:09 But at any rate, being sworn in today, Brice Oligi and Gema said that not a drop of blood
02:16 had been spilled in Gabon in their seizing of power and said that they would work to
02:22 restore the institutions of Gabon and restore fairness to the people.
02:27 Catherine, I know that you've just managed to get into the country now that the borders
02:31 have been opened.
02:33 But I want to get a sense of what people have been saying to you.
02:38 Has the tension somewhat dropped as a result of this swearing in ceremony, for example?
02:46 There have been fewer people on the streets of Gabon yesterday when we arrived in the
02:54 country following the reopening of the borders.
02:57 And flights began landing once again in Libreville.
03:01 We were told the streets were notably quieter.
03:03 And people we've been speaking to in the capital said, well, they were very much watching and
03:08 waiting to see what happened next.
03:10 I have to say there was an overwhelming feeling of relief amongst those we spoke to that the
03:15 rule of Ali Bongo had been ended after that of his father.
03:19 The Bongos had been in power for 55 years in Gabon.
03:23 And it was a very oppressive regime.
03:26 So people were really anxious for change.
03:29 So overall, globally, among those we've been speaking to, they've been happy that that's
03:33 happened.
03:34 But there's also wariness, too, about where this could lead.
03:37 And some people pointing out that the man who's taken over as transition president,
03:42 Aung San Suu Kyi, was part of the Bongo clan, if not the family, that he'd been close to
03:47 the father, Omar Bongo.
03:48 And then he was the head of the Republican Guard of Ali Bongo, that he has links on his
03:52 mother's side, family links with the wider clan.
03:56 And so they're perhaps saying that this is a palace coup and that not that much could
04:01 change.
04:02 So they will be watching and waiting to see what this change entails in the coming days
04:06 and whether it is the change that they were hoping for.
04:09 Catherine Norris Trent reporting there in front of the presidential palace in Libreville.