Jean Ping breaks off ties with Gabonese government

Ex-chairman of the African Union Commission (AU) Jean Ping announced on Saturday that he had severed ties with the current regime in Libreville. He however failed to announce whether he will join the opposition or whether he will be contesting in the 2016 presidential elections in which current President Ali Bongo Ondimba is a potential candidate. "It's very clear that I have nothing to do with the current authorities," Ping said when he spoke in Libreville, the first time he publicly spoke since the end of his AU term (2008-2012). The former AU Commission chairman made the declaration when he spoke at a conference organized by Gabon's opposition supporters. Having a Gabonese mother and an immigrant Chinese father, Ping affirmed that he had wished to retire from politics after AU but upon returning to the country, he opened an international consulting firm. The Libreville authorities did not wish to work with his consultancy firm. During the reign of ex-Gabonese president Omar Bongo Ondimba, Ping served in various ministerial positions. From 1999 to 2008, he served as Gabon's foreign minister, a position he left to become the AU Commission chairman.