Gabon military officers declare coup after Ali Bongo wins disputed election

[mastermind]

If/when Cameroon drops its officially a wrap for France in Africa and Nigeria is surrounded by militant governments. July 2015 continues

The Gabon coup has nothing to do with the other coups. Ali Bongo tried to steal an election and everyone said, GTFO.

I don’t think Nigeria has any issue, tbh.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

again, while I have no problem with removing geriatrics like in Gabon, my problem with Niger and Burkina was them removing democratically elected politicians. THAT is bad for business. There needs to be actual democracy in place , not just coups for coups sake.

Gabon seems like it's the closest to continuing the grift than Niger tho.

 

[Pressure]

Neon definitely feels more lively and has that cyberpunk anesthetic

 

[wire28]

OP how is France feeling about all of this?

 

[MAKAVELI25]

The Gabon coup has nothing to do with the other coups. Ali Bongo tried to steal an election and everyone said, GTFO.

I don’t think Nigeria has any issue, tbh.

The coup was likely not about protecting the integrity of elections. Wasn't the 2016 Gabonese election also highly fraudulent?

The dude who is heading this coup seems to have been a part of Bongo's family circle, is his cousin (not sure if by blood), and has benefitted from Bongo's corruption up til now.

The rhetoric that a lot of these African coup leaders spout is about protecting Democracy/the country, but in most cases, it seems like it is about serving their own interests and not the people's.

Hell, even the sides in Sudan are pretending that they are fighting for the people even though they are clearly battling in their own self interest.

 

[mastermind]

The coup was likely not about protecting the integrity of elections.

i didn’t say it was about protecting the integrity of elections.

I said it was about Bongo stealing an election.

I doubt the coup will instill the rightful winners of the election.

My only point was that this coup has its own distinction.

 

[MAKAVELI25]

i didn’t say it was about protecting the integrity of elections.

I said it was about Bongo stealing an election.

And I'm calling bullshyt. This wasn't the first election he has stolen, what about the masquerade in 2016?

If they were so concerned about him stealing elections, why no action then?

 

[mastermind]

And I'm calling bullshyt. This wasn't the first election he has stolen, what about the masquerade in 2016?

If they were so concerned about him stealing elections, why no action then?

Bongo has probably stolen the last feelw elections.

My only point is this isn’t the same conditions as the other coups.

 

[Liu Kang]

And I'm calling bullshyt. This wasn't the first election he has stolen, what about the masquerade in 2016?

If they were so concerned about him stealing elections, why no action then?

What @mastermind is saying is that the Gabon situation is structurally different than Mali , Burkina Faso or Niger

In the last 3, the underlying motivation was about the inefficiency of the anti jihadism efforts mixed with Russian influence, anti-French military presence and post-colonial propaganda, bad economic numbers etc

For this one, the clear trigger is the fraudulent election but there is no widespread anti-French sentiment, no Russian interference, no economic issues (though the wealth is not well distributed either)

Why no action then ? Who knows, maybe not enough support from the military, maybe not enough exasperation from the people. We don't know but it's clear that the fraud was the trigger for that one.

 

[Liu Kang]

OP how is France feeling about all of this?

Surprisingly realist

Overall acknowledgement that the previous French-African relations were built on bad foundations. That the French diplomacy catered too much to the elite and forgot about the actual citizens ; that even though the military interventions were good overall, they appeared to distant to the people ; and that the Françafrique as a concept is already dead or should be if not.

Even Macron sees it and has been more realpolitik about it because France has tried to have better economic links with Angola for example which is historically not a country France has relations with.

So when it comes to geopolitics, even if it's a tough pill to swallow as those are lost areas of influence, there is this understanding that France and francophone Africa relations need to be rebuilt differently and all of that was ultimately just a matter of time. Decolonization should probably have been more styled like the English did. At least politically.

From a military perspective, it's more problematic however. Niger and Tchad have important bases to bring the fight to jihadists and there is a dire need to counter Wagner's influence so I don't see France leaving unless Bazoum somehow negotiates this with the army if they find a way to allow him to return.

What is said on political TV shows is that Cameroun is probably next as Biya is too much of a relic of the past unless he makes drastic changes soon. Sassou Nguesso (Congo-Brazza) is on the same type of time.

 

[MAKAVELI25]

What @mastermind is saying is that the Gabon situation is structurally different than Mali , Burkina Faso or Niger

In the last 3, the underlying motivation was about the inefficiency of the anti jihadism efforts mixed with Russian influence, anti-French military presence and post-colonial propaganda, bad economic numbers etc

For this one, the clear trigger is the fraudulent election but there is no widespread anti-French sentiment, no Russian interference, no economic issues (though the wealth is not well distributed either)

Why no action then ? Who knows, maybe not enough support from the military, maybe not enough exasperation from the people. We don't know but it's clear that the fraud was the trigger for that one.

I'm not arguing that there is no structural difference between this and the other countries.

What I'm arguing is that that they are using the fraudulent election as a pretense. I'm arguing that , at some point in time, they would likely have done this anyway, and that the election provided convenient cover. Obviously we still need more information, but I am betting that this was more about preventing the inheritance of power by Noureddin, Bongo's son, in the same way Bongo inherited power from his own father.


I don't buy that Nguema, who seems to have benefitted from Bongo's corruption for years, is all of a sudden concerned about the fraudulent elections. This is a power grab.

They are using the election as an excuse the same way all the coup-plotters across the region have come up with false justifications for their actions.

If this was really a trigger and isn't just being used as a excuse, then surely they will install the actual winners of the election, right? Does anyone actually think that that is what they will do?

 

[mastermind]

They are using the election as an excuse the same way all the coup-plotters across the region have come up with false justifications for their actions

No one said otherwise. You are debating yourself.

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

https://archive.ph/aqwcC

Spoiler: mirror

Got emmm… they done hit a lick

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

What @mastermind is saying is that the Gabon situation is structurally different than Mali , Burkina Faso or Niger

In the last 3, the underlying motivation was about the inefficiency of the anti jihadism efforts mixed with Russian influence, anti-French military presence and post-colonial propaganda, bad economic numbers etc

For this one, the clear trigger is the fraudulent election but there is no widespread anti-French sentiment, no Russian interference, no economic issues (though the wealth is not well distributed either)

Why no action then ? Who knows, maybe not enough support from the military, maybe not enough exasperation from the people. We don't know but it's clear that the fraud was the trigger for that one.

@MAKAVELI25 is a mental midget so it’s no surprise he can’t comprehend what’s being said

 

[88m3]

Wasn't this the guy that was getting pressured from multiple directions not to run again because of term limit and then he changed the law so he could