Gabon's junta leader says he wants to avoid rushing into elections that "repeat past mistakes", as pressure mount on the junta to hand back power to a civilian government.
Military officers led by General Brice Oligui Nguema seized power on Wednesday overthrowing Gabon's President Ali Bongo, minutes after an announcement that he had secured a third term in a disputed election.
The officers placed Bongo under house arrest and installed Nguema as head of state, ending the Bongo family's 56-year hold on power.
The coup - West and Central Africa's eighth in three years - drew cheering crowds onto the streets of the capital Libreville, but condemnation from abroad and opposition at home.
No ad hoc polls
Nguema said in a televised address on Friday evening that the junta would proceed "quickly but surely." He however said it would avoid elections that "repeat the same mistakes" by keeping the same people in power.
"Going as quickly as possible does not mean organising ad hoc elections, where we will end up with the same errors," he said.
Central African regional bloc ECCAS has urged partners led by the United Nations and the African Union to support a rapid return to constitutional order, it said in a statement after an extraordinary meeting on Thursday.
The bloc said it would reconvene on Monday, the day the junta leader is due to be sworn in.
Threats of sanctions
Gabon's main opposition group, Alternance 2023, which says it is the rightful winner of Saturday's election, urged the international community on Friday to encourage the junta to hand power back to civilians.
Bongo took over in 2009 from his late father who came to power in 1967. Opponents say the family did little to share Gabon's oil and mining wealth for the benefit of the entire population.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council on Thursday called for fair and transparent elections. It said it will impose sanctions on the coup leaders if they do not resto re constitutional order.
France, Gabon's former colonial ruler, and other Western powers have condemned the takeover.
