Son of former dictator wins Gabon presidential election

Gabon’s interior minister has announced that Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of Gabon’s late dictator, won the country’s presidential election.

Minister Jean-Francois Ndongou said on state TV that Ali Bongo received 41.7 percent of the vote.

Opposition leader Andre Mba Obame received 25.8 percent of the vote, while Pierre Mambounda, another opposition leader, came in third with 25.2 percent.

Police earlier Thursday used tear gas to disperse opposition protesters from a square outside the electoral commission offices.

Seventeen candidates ran for president Sunday in the hotly contested race to replace late President Omar Bongo, who died in June after 41 years in power.

His eldest son was visibly better-funded than the other candidates, putting up billboards of himself throughout the capital and campaigning from a private jet.