Gabon gov't is setting stage for Bongo replacement

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon's chief lawmaker will be sworn in Wednesday as the African country's interim leader following the death of longtime ruler Omar Bongo, the head of the constitutional court said.

The move will make senate chief Rose Francine Rogombe the first new president the country has known since Bongo took power after his predecessor died in 1967. It also quashed fears there could be a struggle for power.

Rogome will take the oath of office during a ceremony in the capital, Libreville, the president of the constitutional court, Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, said Tuesday.

Gabon's government held an emergency meeting during which Cabinet ministers officially acknowledged the power vacuum. Hours later, the constitutional court did the same. Both moves were necessary to transfer power, according to the constitution.

Bongo, 73, died on Monday of cardiac arrest at Spanish hospital where he had been treated for weeks. He had dominated the oil-rich former French colony for 42 years. At the time of his death, he was the world's longest-serving president.

Government spokesman Renee Ndemezo'o Obiang said Bongo's body would be returned to Gabon on Thursday from Spain and the late president would be buried soon afterward in the central city of Franceville, capital of his native province.

No date has been set for the funeral.

Bongo was the only leader most Gabonese ever knew, and the government has sought to reassure its population the country will not degenerate without him.

"We want the friends of Gabon to know that the country is functioning smoothly despite the president's absence," Obiang told reporters.

Late Monday, Ali Ben Bongo — the late leader's son and defense minister — went on national television to call for calm. The younger Bongo said he was speaking on behalf of his family, but the appearance has raised speculation he is positioning himself for a political run.

The constitution calls for the head of the Senate to assume power and organize presidential elections within 90 days of Bongo's death.

On Tuesday, Libreville was calm and there was no significant sign of troops in the streets. Airport officials said flights had resumed after authorities sealed borders Monday.

Since Bongo checked into the Spanish hospital last month, Gabonese officials had aggressively denied that he was ill, insisting he had gone to Spain to observe "a period of mourning" following the death of his wife in March. They initially denied he was in the hospital at all, then later said he had been admitted to the clinic, but only for a checkup.

Just hours before announcing Bongo's death, Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong held a news conference at the Quiron Clinic in Barcelona to say the president was alive.



by the associated press