The PSOE has appealed to the re-elected president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to enter into a dialogue with the opposition and to undertake reforms in the country, after noting that the presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections of last November 20 were not held with the expected «democratic guarantees».
The Socialists have made this statement in a communiqué after Obiang was reelected with almost 95% of the votes and his party won all 100 seats in the Equatoguinean Parliament, without the Government having at any time commented on the elections or congratulated the president – the longest-serving president in the world since he has been in power since 1979 – on his victory.
The PSOE has indicated that it shares the views expressed by the EU, which last week asked the authorities of Equatorial Guinea for a «thorough» investigation of the allegations of «abuse and irregularities» during the elections and regretted that the environment has not been «conducive to democratic, pluralistic and participatory elections», in addition to defending the need for a «fully inclusive dialogue».
Thus, the party headed by Pedro Sanchez has appealed «to the Equatoguinean government to establish a political and social dialogue to facilitate the implementation of such measures», while regretting that «the elections have not been held under the expected conditions of democratic guarantees».
Finally, and looking to the future, the PSOE has considered that «Equatorial Guinea must undertake the appropriate improvements to improve democratic governance». «Only in this way can the full exercise of plurality and political participation be guaranteed,» he concluded in his statement.
