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Obiang wants new seven-year term
At stake: President
Background
Equatorial Guinea is a coastal territory located between Cameroon and Gabon, which also includes the islands of Bioko and Annabon. Two relatives have ruled the African nation since it attained its independence from Spain in 1968. Francisco Macías Nguema administered the country for 11 years, but constant abuses to human rights forced a third of the population to flee.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema ousted his uncle in 1979, and ordered his execution. Despite releasing many political prisoners during his first few days as ruler, Obiang has maintained Equatorial Guinea’s overly repressive culture, where dissent frequently leads to punishment.
In the 1980s, Obiang forced opposition leader Severo Moto into exile and sentenced him in-absentia to 68 years in jail for allegedly planning several coups to overthrow him. Moto settled in Spain, where he was granted political asylum.
When petroleum deposits were discovered in the island of Bioko in 1996, Obiang turned the country into one of Africa’s leading oil and gas producers. The opposition claims that the average inhabitant has seen little or no benefits from the gleaming industry.
The oil boom meant that Equatorial Guinea’s economic growth went up by 71.2 percentage points in 1997. Macro-economic indicators still talk today of a robust growth but, besides having a richer elite, the country remains practically unchanged.
Equatorial Guinea has endured racial tensions involving the Fang community, located in the mainland, and the minority Bubi who live in Bioko. In 1998, 15 people were sentenced to death by a military tribunal after violence erupted in the island.
The first open presidential election in the country was held in 1996, with Obiang garnering 99 per cent of the popular vote as the candidate for the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE). The ballot was internationally rebuked for its fraudulent conditions.
After the 1999 legislative election, several members of the opposition Popular Union (UP) were arrested after declaring that the vote had been rigged. In July 2001, exiled activist Florentino Ecomo Nsogo of the Party of Reconstruction and Social Well-Being (PRBS) returned to Equatorial Guinea after Obiang made a public commitment to allow opposition parties to register.
The 2002 presidential election was also marred by irregularities, as four candidates withdrew before the vote took place. Celestino Bonifacio Bacale of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) complained that citizens were not allowed to cast their votes in secret, and Buenaventura Moswi of the Social Democratic Coalition Party (PCSD) claimed that only the president’s name was included in the ballots used in several voting stations, making it impossible for the electorate to choose an opposition contender.
In November 2003, the European Union (EU) committed international observers to the Equatorial Guinea parliamentary election. The proposal was brought forth to the EU by Plácido Micó Abogo, leader of the CPDS. Micó was arrested for political dissent along with 67 political activists in 2002, for his role in an alleged coup attempt. After a confession purportedly obtained through torture, Micó was kept in jail for more than a year. The trial originally considered capital punishment as a possible sentence.
The interior ministry agreed to fund the electoral campaigns of the country’s 13 contending parties in the 2004 parliamentary vote. Each political organization received $18,230 U.S. to finance their activities.
In March 2004, just weeks before a legislative election, authorities foiled an attempted coup d’état against Obiang allegedly led by former British soldiers. In August, Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was arrested in connection with the purported operation. The charges read that Mark Thatcher was related to the "possible funding and logistical assistance in relation to [an] attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea." Thatcher ultimately pleaded guilty to negligence in investing in an aircraft without knowing what it would be used for and received a four-year suspended jail sentence.
In the 2004 legislative election, the ruling PDGE was the winner with 68 seats, followed by the Democratic Opposition (OP), a loose alliance of several political organizations with close ties to the president. The CPDS—widely regarded as the lone alternative to government-friendly parties—won only two seats with 5.8 per cent.
Click here for Equatorial Guinea’s 2004 Legislative Election Tracker
In August 2006, the PDGE’s Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfubea became prime minister, after Biteo Borico stepped down.
On Mar. 11, 2008, former British army officer Simon Mann admitted in a televised interview that he plotted to oust Obiang in 2004.
The 2008 legislative ballot proved as unreliable as the previous ones. The president defended his decision to hold an early legislative ballot that year, saying it would be cheaper to combine it with municipal elections.
In at least two constituencies, official tallies showed that every single vote went to the PDGE. Interior minister Clemente Engonga—who also served as the president of the National Electoral Commission—stated that the PDGE and the pro-government Democratic Opposition had secured 99 of the 100 seats at stake. The CPDS secured only one seat in the legislature.
Click here for Equatorial Guinea’s 2008 Legislative Election Tracker
In February 2008, a presidential decree called for the next presidential election to take place in 2010.
2009 Presidential Election
In October, Equatorial Guinea’s current autocratic ruler, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, changed the date of a presidential election originally scheduled for 2010 to Nov. 29, 2009.
Obiang, who has been in office since ousting his uncle in 1979, will seek a new seven-year term.
On Oct. 16, opposition leader Plácido Micó Abogo of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) accused the government of changing the election date to its advantage, declaring, "45 days [to prepare], that’s very little. (…) It’s to stop us being able to prepare ourselves well."
Micó said that the CPDS and the other members of the so-called "radical" opposition would nonetheless participate in the election "in spite of the acts of fraud [planned] by the PDGE."
On Nov. 3, British ex-military officer Simon Mann and four South African mercenaries were granted a presidential pardon and freed from jail for their participation in a plot to oust the government in 2004. Mann’s case was of extremely high profile worldwide, as he implicated Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, as a financier in the operation. Mark Thatcher denied the allegations, but pleaded guilty in 2008 to unknowingly financing the operation. Mann also assured that the plot was condoned by the American, Spanish, and South African governments.
Political Players
President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema - PDGE
Prime minister: Ignacio Milam Tang - PDGE
The president is elected to a seven-year term by the popular vote.
Legislative Branch: The Cámara de Representantes del Pueblo (Chamber of People’s Representatives) has 100 members, elected to a five-year term by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Before the 2004 election, the Chamber had 80 members.
Results of Last Election:
President - Dec. 15, 2002
|
Vote% |
|
|
Teodoro Obiang Nguema |
97.1% |
|
Celestino Bonifacio Bacale |
2.2% |
Note: Four presidential candidates (including Bacale) withdrew alleging fraudulent conditions.
Chamber of People’s Representatives - May 4, 2008
|
Seats |
|
|
Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) and |
99 |
|
Convergence for a Social Democracy (CPDS) |
1 |