Bongo son front-runner as voting ends in Gabon

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Voters in Gabon turned out in large numbers on Sunday to elect a successor to long-time leader Omar Bongo, and the late president's son was tipped to take power in the central African oil producer.

Ali Ben Bongo, defence minister in his father's government, had looked to be cruising to victory after a well-funded election campaign. But he faced a growing last-minute challenge after five candidates withdrew in favour of a leading rival.

"There is a mounting groundswell of opposition against frontrunner Ali Ben, which he will have to contend with if he does eventually come to power," IHS Global Insight analyst Kissy Agyeman-Togobo said.

Polling closed at 6.00 pm (1700 GMT), with an official projection possible late on Sunday and official results expected on Monday or Tuesday.

There was no official turnout figure but witnesses said polling was brisker than at the last election in 2005, with some voters making their way to polling stations well before dawn -- only to experience hours of delay before casting their vote.

"We arrived here and the voting urns weren't in place. We had to put together the polling booth ourselves," said Danniel Adamdi, a Libreville resident in his late 20s, at one of several polling stations where voting was delayed.

One candidate, ex-Prime Minister Casimir Oye Mba, pulled out late on Friday, saying the election's credibility was in doubt, but a top international observer said procedures looked acceptable despite the delays.

"Broadly speaking it started very well," Daniel-Franck Idiata, president of the committee overseeing the observer mission, told reporters.

BORDERS CLOSED

Investors are banking on a Ben Bongo win and play down the risk of unrest. But there have been widespread accusations among the candidates of rigging and some analysts fear tensions could spill over as results start coming in from Monday onwards.

Omar Bongo died in June after keeping a tight grip on power and using petro-dollars from sub-Saharan Africa's fifth largest producer to subdue ethnic tension in the country of 1.5 million, home to investors like France's Total and Britain's Tullow Oil.

Ali Ben Bongo, 50, resigned from the defence ministry after opposition complaints that the post gave him an unfair advantage in the campaign, but analysts say he retains a strong influence over the state and ruling party machinery.

"It is clear that we cannot accept disorder," Ben Bongo warned protesters ahead of the poll. "We shall use all the institutions that the law authorises us to use -- the street belongs to no one," he told Radio France International.

Sea and land borders were closed until midnight on Thursday. Witnesses saw armed security around some voting stations in Libreville, particularly in opposition strongholds.

On Friday, five out of a field of 23 candidates withdrew to back Andre Mba Obame, a former interior minister and stalwart of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) who quit last month to run as an independent.

In Gabon's single-round election system, the candidate with the most votes wins, without requiring a majority. Ben Bongo has toured the country to attract the large youth vote with his "Ali '9" campaign, often with a hip-hop music backing at his rallies.

"I think it's with him that the youth have a hope for a better life. With him you can really get change," said Libreville resident Yann Chancel.

The former French colony has exported oil since the 1960s and is one of the few sub-Saharan nations to launch a Eurobond.

But around a third of Gabonese live in poverty and, after years of tight control, the end of Bongo's rule was overshadowed by probes into his personal fortune by a judge in France.