E. Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Eyes 6th Term In Power
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the dictatorial president of Equatorial Guinea, is seeking to extend his record-breaking 43-year rule by winning a sixth term in office on Sunday.
In August 1979, Obiang, then 80 years old, overthrew his uncle, Francisco Macias Ngueme, who was later put to death by the firing squad.
He has maintained control of the oil-rich central African state ever since, firmly repressing dissent and surviving numerous coup attempts—a record for any leader alive today, except from monarchs.
Due to his remarkable reign, he is only Equatorial Guinea‘s second president since the country’s independence from Spain, its colonial power for nearly two centuries, in 1968.
Teodoro Obiang will compete against two opponents in the upcoming election, but few people dispute the result. He was re-elected in 2016 with 93.7% of the vote.
The presidential vote was originally slated for April of next year, but it was moved up to November 20 for ostensibly financial reasons so that it could coincide with the legislative, senate, and local elections.
Every major thoroughfare in the nation’s capital, Malabo, is covered in posters of Teodoro Obiang and his Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), which was the nation’s sole legitimate political activity until 1991.
A president’s portrait is frequently pasted over or pulled down opposition posters.
The state broadcaster TVGE, which broadcasts live footage of the president’s rallies and continuously replays them, is dominated by the PDGE’s catchphrase, “continuity.”
Dictatorship
The other two candidates are Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu of the Social Democratic Coalition Group (PCSD), a longtime supporter of the PDGE, and Andres Esono Ondo of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), the only authorized opposition party.
First-time candidate Esono Ondo has called the government a “dictatorship” and asserted that if the election was “free and transparent, I could win.”
We need political and democratic reform, he declared.
There is a lot of injustice taking place, the regime discriminates, and the Obiang family is the only one the government rules for.
The Vice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, also known as Teodorin, the president’s son and campaign manager, rejected the idea of hosting an electoral debate with Obiang.
Teodorin reported that Teodoro Obiang stated he would not accede to “debate with a party which isn’t even guaranteed of being able to achieve one percent of the vote.”
He joked, “Let him enjoy himself and debate with the goats.”
Many people think Teodorin is being prepared to take over from his father, and other people have pondered whether the next elections will be the turning point.
But his reputation for leading a jet-set lifestyle and controversies in western nations has damaged his image.
His possession of expensive vehicles and houses worth millions of dollars has been ordered to be forfeited by France, Britain, and the US. Additionally, he received a 30-million-euro fine and a three-year term with probation in France (dollars).
Pre-Election Crackdown
Borders have been closed in the lead-up to the elections “to prevent the infiltration of groups that may try to destabilize the campaign,” and dissidents have been arrested on suspicion of planning assaults against western embassies and regime ministers’ homes.
The PDGE held total control of the Senate and 99 of the National Assembly’s 100 seats in the previous legislature.
Four-fifths of the 1.4 million people in the country live below the poverty line, according to the most recent available data from the World Bank for 2006. This shows how unequally distributed oil revenue is.
According to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, the nation has a well-established reputation for corruption, ranking 172 out of 180 countries.
AFP
