French premier says recount of Gabon elections would be wise

PARIS – France’s prime minister says that a recount of the Gabon presidential election results would be wise and that “the electoral process should be clear” amid fraud allegations.

Gabon’s top opposition candidate, Jean Ping, declared Friday that he was the rightful winner of the election, calling the results for the Aug. 27 vote fraudulent following President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s re-election.

Election commission results showed Bongo won by only 1.57 percentage points and clashes quickly broke out after results were announced last week.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told RTL radio that European observers expressed criticism over the electoral process. He said “common sense would command a recount of the ballots. But our priority is the safety of the 15,000 French nationals who live and work in Gabon.”