Voters attacked election officials and smashed ballot boxes Sunday, claiming the country's first multiparty elections in 22 years were rigged in favor of President Omar Bongo. One election official was reported hurt in the violence, which forced the closing of the main voting station in the capital city of Libreville. Sunday was the first of two rounds of voting to elect 120 legislators from 520 candidates in the oil-rich West African nation of 1.2 million people. Bongo called the election and legalized opposition parties following a wave of protests earlier this year. Bongo had permitted only his Democratic Party to operate since shortly after taking power in late 1967. Violence began after voters at the largest balloting station, Libreville's Hotel de Ville, said they discovered stuffed ballot boxes before voting began. They smashed the boxes and assaulted officials, witnesses said. At several voting stations in the capital, particularly in the populous suburbs of Lalala and Venez-Voir, election officials asked voters to deposit unmarked ballots. Shocked voters cried out that the elections were ``a scandal.''Journalists saw ballot papers that did not match the official forms circulating in Libreville. In Tchibanga, a small town about 300 miles southeast of Libreville, an independent radio station reported voters ransacked the election office and town hall and beat up election officials. The attacks there began after voters learned there were not enough ballots, and some of the 37 opposition parties claimed their tickets had been removed from voting booths, the station reported. The government did not immediately respond to the charges of fraud. It also was not clear if ballots would be counted or whether future voting will be held. Bongo's opponents accuse him of corruption, nepotism and economic policies that cause unemployment. They have promised better health care, education, housing and roads. Bongo, one of a handful of civilian leaders in West Africa, has said his party is ready to entertain new ideas. The Democratic Party already was assured of 13 uncontested assembly seats. The death of Progress Party leader Joseph Rendjambe on May 23 triggered widespread rioting by followers who accused Bongo of orchestrating his murder. The unrest ended after French and Gabonese doctors performed an autopsy and concluded Rendjambe, a diabetic, died of natural causes. The worst violence occurred in Port Gentil, where demonstrators burned down the French consulate and took some foreign oil executives hostage. France sent troops and the hostages were freed. Gabon, which achieved independence in 1960, receives about 80 percent of its income from oil.
