Equatorial Guinea's president Obiang can extend rule to half a century

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago won another seven-year term, garnering 95% of the vote

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago secured a landslide win in Nov. 20 elections, extending his 43-year rule of the tiny oil-rich central African nation.
 

Obiang won another seven-year term, garnering 95 per cent of the vote, the country’s vice president and the son of the president, Teodoro Obiang Mangue, said Saturday on Twitter. Voter participation was 98%, according to a statement on the government website. 

The other candidates -- Andres Esono Ondo of the Convergence for Social Democracy party and Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu of the Party of the Social Democratic Coalition Party -- got 2.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent of the votes, respectively.

The 80-year-old Obiang has won more than 90 per cent of the vote in every election held since he seized power from his uncle in 1979, and 80 per cent of the population have known no other leader. 

His rule has been marked by the repression of political opponents, civil rights groups and independent media, and he and his family have been among the primary beneficiaries of the nation’s oil wealth. Ondo’s Convergence for Social Democracy said in a Nov. 20 statement that it would consider Obiang an illegitimate leader if he won, citing fraud. 

An African Union observer mission didn’t report any “tangible irregularities,” but said the national electoral body’s role should be strengthened. 

Obiang’s ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

The party also secured a majority in parliamentary elections, taking all 100 parliamentary seats and all the 55 seats in the Senate that were up for election. It previously held 99 seats out of the 100 parliamentary seats. The remaining 15 senate members are appointed by the president.

“The final results in the polls proves us right again,” Vice President Obiang tweeted.

While a surge in international crude prices has been a boon for Equatorial Guinea, the benefits have been offset by rising costs of food and other imports. The economy was expected to grow 5.8% this year but only expanded 2% in the first half, the International Monetary Fund said last month.