Libreville, Gabon — Results of the first round of Gabon's legislative elections, held Sunday, have still not been officially announced yet. But the opposition, though disunited even as it embarked on the poll, has since pulled ranks.

Both Pierre Mamboundou and Pasteur Père Mba Abessole, respective leaders of the Union du peuple gabonais (UPG) and the Rassemblement Nationale des Bucherons- Rassemblement pour le Gabon (RNB-RPG), have called for the results to be cancelled altogether. They say the cancellation is an urgent necessity called for by reports of serious irregularities and acts of violence during the poll and by the low turnout.

Several sources have reported that only 28% of the 600,000 registered voters actually cast their vote. But the President of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), warned Sunday, that "the problems encountered do not undermine the credibility of the results we will receive."

Nonetheless, dissenting voices within the Commission are beginning to be heard calling for at least a partial re-run, particularly in areas where the vote was ill-organized. President Omar Bongo's Parti Démocratique du Gabon (PDG), declared by most local commentators as most likely to win this first round, is keeping a low profile while waiting for the results to be announced. Of the 120 national assembly seats contested in this election, the PDG has been declared winner of 56.

Meanwhile, in these highly controversial political conditions, the health situation in this country of 1,300,000 inhabitants, has suddenly deteriorated. Eleven people have died of the Ebola virus in the North-East, leading the authorities to put the region under quarantine.