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**Gabon’s opposition parties have called for a three-day national strike to protest at last month’s election.**The poll was won by Ali Ben Bongo, the son of late leader Omar Bongo, but activists say it was an “electoral coup d’etat” fixed by Bongo supporters.
After the result was announced, riots broke out and several people died in the second city of Port Gentil.
The government has urged people to ignore the strike and called the opposition “irresponsible”.
The BBC’s Linel Kwatsi in the capital Libreville said the main streets of the city were packed with cars, as usual.
He said many opposition supporters felt they have been too involved with politics and are ready to get on with their lives.
Strike condemned
Mike Jocktane, spokesman for beaten presidential candidate Andre Mba Obame, said the idea was to denounce the election result - but also to express solidarity with the victims of violence in Port Gentil.
“We’re asking people to stay at home, not to come out of their houses, because we want to avoid violence,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa.
But Rose Francine Rogombe, who is serving as interim president until the inauguration of Mr Bongo, condemned the opposition move.
“They cannot ask the Gabonese people to close the doors to their offices and stay home for three days without considering the economic consequences,” she said.
“It shows they are irresponsible.”
Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth biggest oil producer and Africa’s second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty.
Last month’s election was called after the death of Omar Bongo, one of the world’s richest men, who had ruled the nation for four decades.