Equatorial Guinea: Presidential election advanced to November 20

In Equatorial Guinea, presidential elections have been brought forward by five months. Scheduled for April 2023, the vote will ultimately take place on November 20, 2022, at the same time as the legislative elections. Will Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president in power for 43 years, still be a candidate or will he let his son, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue take over?

In Malabo, President Mbasogo has decided to bring forward the presidential election. “The presidential, Chamber of Deputies, Senate and municipal elections are convened on November 20, 2022,” said a decree of the head of state read on the evening news of state television on Tuesday. And for cause, the need to consolidate expensive polls in the midst of an economic crisis due in particular to “the war in Ukraine” and the “Covid-19 pandemic”,

Formalities

In a country with virtually no political opposition, elections act as barometers of influence. Indeed, the only difficulty for the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), lies in the designation of its candidate. Especially when we know that the previous legislature of the lower house is composed of 99 deputies of the PDGE out of the 100 seats; and that the totality of the 70 seats of the Senate are for raflés by this same party in power. In other words, all that is required is for the father and son to agree on who will run for election, and the rest will follow.

In power since 1979, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has always taken care to hold an absolute majority in parliament. The PDGE, his party, was the only party in the country until 1991. And in this legislature, the party will leave some rare seats to coalitions of opponents reduced to the role of extras.

It is moreover to ensure his succession that the one who holds the world record of longevity in power of heads of state still alive has prepared his son Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue. The latter has been omnipresent on the Guinean political scene for two years and is considered the successor to his father, the feared all-powerful Vice President in charge of Defense, nicknamed “Teodorin.

For the time being, it is not yet known whether the father or the son will be the candidate for these advanced presidential elections on November 20. In any case, Equatorial Guineans are not yet finished with the Obiang clan.