LIBREVILLE (AFP) – Gabon on Wednesday abolished the National Union opposition party and said its leader will face treason charges after he proclaimed himself head of the oil-rich African nation.

The party of former interior minister Andre Mba Obame, a failed presidential candidate, had been dissolved “with immediate effect,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
It accused Mba Obame and his backers of forming an “insurrectional government” in a violation of the constitution that amounted to treason.
“As a result they face sanctions and punishment prescribed by the law,” the ministry said.
For Mba Obame, a former interior minister and member of parliament, that means the government would seek the lifting of his parliamentary immunity, the ministry added.
Mba Obame claimed that victory was stolen from him in the 2009 presidential election by Ali Bongo Ondimba and on Tuesday named his “government” at the headquarters of his National Union party in the capital Libreville.
He said that in proclaiming himself president he was following the example of Ivory Coast, where the internationally recognized winner of a November election is holed up in a hotel with his government while long serving ruler Laurent Gbagbo refuses to step down.
Bongo has ruled Gabon since winning presidential elections held on August 30, 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, who held power for more than four decades.
According to final results approved by the constitutional court, Bongo won 41.79 percent of the vote.