The U.S. Government has expressed its «serious doubts» about the credibility of the results of the elections held in Equatorial Guinea following «credible» allegations by opponents and civil society groups of «significant» irregularities during the voting.
«The United States congratulates the people of Equatorial Guinea who exercised their right to vote on November 20,» said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, who noted that «international election observers, civil society groups, and opposition parties have made credible allegations of significant irregularities, including documented instances of fraud, intimidation, and coercion.»
He noted that «these allegations include restrictions on the ability of political party representatives to access polling stations, repeated voting, pre-filled ballots in favor of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), open voting booths, and heavily armed soldiers 20 meters from voting booths».
«We are concerned about irregular counting practices that favor the ruling party, including counting unopened ballots in favor of the PDGE and counting ballots without all political parties being represented,» he said, while stressing that «these irregularities would violate Equatoguinean law.»
Price therefore argued that «given the scale of the irregularities observed and the announcement of the results, which gives the PDGE 94.9 percent of the vote, there are serious doubts about the credibility of the announcement», while stressing that «elections are an opportunity for a government and political parties to tangibly demonstrate their commitment to democratic principles».
«We call on the Equatoguinean authorities to work with all actors, including the full spectrum of political organizations and civil society organizations, to fully address these credible allegations of fraud and to take steps to allow the expression of diverse political perspectives,» he reiterated.
The final tally of the presidential elections in Equatorial Guinea gave the incumbent, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a landslide victory with 94.9 percent of the vote, the country’s vice president and son of the president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, announced, citing data from the Electoral Commission.
According to the scrutiny, in second place was the opposition Andres Esono, of the Convergence for Social Democracy party (CPDS), who denounced «scandalous and generalized irregularities» during the election day. In third place was Buenaventura Monsuy, of the Social Democratic Coalition Party (PCSD).
Furthermore, the PDGE led by Obiang has won all the seats at stake: the 100 of the Chamber of Deputies, the 55 elected in the Senate -which has 70 seats, although 15 are appointed directly by the President- and the 588 of the Municipal Elections, according to the data of the Commission.
Obiang, 80 years old and the longest-serving president in the world, has led Equatorial Guinea since the uprising against his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, who became the country’s first president after independence from Spain in 1968.
Despite the fact that there are 18 legalized parties in the country, in practice there are no opponents with real options to remove Obiang from power, amid speculation about the possibility of a ‘dynastic’ succession resulting in the rise of his son ‘Teodorín’, vice-president since 2016.