Gabon can be suspended from the African Union (AU) “immediately” after the navy coup this week, the bloc’s Peace and Security Council stated Thursday.
The physique stated on X, previously often called Twitter, that it “strongly condemns the military takeover of power in the Republic of Gabon which ousted President Ali Bongo on 30 August 2023.”
It “decides to immediately suspend the participation of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions until the restoration of constitutional order in the country.”
The announcement got here after a gathering of the council on the scenario in Gabon following Wednesday’s coup that adopted disputed elections through which Bongo was declared the winner.
It stated the assembly was chaired by AU commissioner for political affairs Bankole Adeoye of Nigeria and the present holder of the council’s rotating chair, Burundi’s Willy Nyamitwe.
On Wednesday, the top of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, had referred to as on the Gabonese military and safety forces “to guarantee the physical integrity” of Bongo, who the coup leaders stated had been positioned beneath home arrest.
Faki additionally condemned the coup and stated the occasions in Gabon had been a “flagrant violation” of the authorized and political devices of the Addis Ababa-headquartered African Union.
“(Faki) encourages all political, civil and military actors in Gabon to favour peaceful political paths leading to the rapid return to democratic constitutional order in the country,” he stated on X.
Earlier this month, the African Union took comparable motion to droop Niger after a coup within the west African nation in July that toppled elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
