E.Guinea accuses France, Spain and the US of “meddling” in the elections

E.Guinea accuses France, Spain and the US of “meddling” in the elections

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E.Guinea accuses France, Spain and the US of “meddling” in the elections

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E.Guinea accuses France, Spain and the US of “meddling” in the elections
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled the country with an iron fist for 43 years
AFP – Steve JORDAN

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Equatorial Guinea on Sunday accused Spain, France and the United States of “meddling” in presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for November 20.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled his country with an iron fist for 43 years, ran for a sixth term in a first campaign event this week.

Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, blamed the three countries after their diplomats attended a campaign rally this week for one of the two opposition movements entitled to present candidates in the elections.

In a statement, the Foreign Office described it as “interference in the country’s internal affairs”.

Obiang’s dominant Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) holds 99 of the 100 seats in the outgoing lower house of parliament and all of the Senate seats.

It was the only legal political movement in the country until 1991, when multiparty politics was introduced.

Opposing Obiang are Andres Esono Ondo of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) party and Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, representing the Democratic Social Coalition party.

In a tweet Thursday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was “concerned by reports of arrests and harassment of members of the opposition and civil society” and called on the government to hold “free and fair” elections.

“Equatorial Guinea can cultivate a more inclusive, peaceful and democratic society by ensuring the expression of diverse political perspectives, a free and fair electoral process and the protection of the human rights of all individuals,” Price said.

The security forces have waged a ruthless campaign over several weeks, including arrests of opponents.

But the government says the arrests are part of a crackdown on an opposition “conspiracy” to plan “attacks” on “gas stations, Western embassies and ministers’ homes.”

Obiang, 80, came to power in a coup in 1979 and is the world’s longest-reigning head of state, excluding monarchs.

Officially, he was never re-elected with less than 93 percent of the vote.

With around 1.4 million inhabitants, more than 425,000 voters are registered for the polls.

The country has large oil and gas reserves, but the majority of its 1.3 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

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