Equatorial Guinea's Obiang wins landslide in criticized poll

Dec 4, 2009, 13:57 GMT

Nairobi/Malabo - Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has secured another seven years in power with 95.37 per cent of the vote in criticized elections, according to official results released Friday.

Obiang, 67, has ruled the tiny, oil-rich nation with an iron fist since seizing power from his uncle in a 1979 coup.

His victory came as little surprise given previous landslide victories and allegations of fraud, opposition harassment and human rights' violations.

Equatorial Guinea's Information Ministry website said the head of the electoral commission - also interior minister in Obiang's government - Clemente Engonga Nguema revealed Friday that Obiang had received 260,462 votes.

His nearest rival - Placid Mico Abogo, of the Convergence for Social Democracy party - received 9,700 votes, or 3.55 per cent.

Voter turnout was 93 per cent, Engonga Nguema said.

Mico Abongo said after polls closed on Sunday he would not accept the result, claiming government agents carried out the voting and some polling stations closed early.

However, Engonga Nguema rejected claims of irregularities.

'There are no outstanding important problems concerning the proceedings, the elections were carried out in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility,' he said.

However, a Malabo resident said there were all manner of problems with the polls.

'Polling station monitors were from the president's party and seen wearing his campaign t-shirts, voters were asked for their ID cards and who they were going to vote for and the stations were manned by police and military loyal to the president,' the resident told the German Press Agency dpa.

Obiang had set a final target of 97 per cent of the vote, which would have been a virtual repeat of his 2002 victory, when he won 97.1 per cent.

His Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) has strolled to victory in all elections since multiparty politics was introduced - at least nominally - in 1991, and holds 99 out of 100 seats in parliament.

Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders said last week that the meager opposition in the country had been harassed and given virtually no coverage in the the state-run media.

Election observers from African Union and Economic Community of Central African States were subject to rules that compromised their efforts to monitor the election, Human Rights Watch said.

Obiang has long faced charges of human rights abuses and of stripping his country of its wealth.

Equatorial Guinea became Africa's third-largest oil producer behind Nigeria and Angola after the discovery of oil and gas deposits in the mid-1990s.

US companies buy up a large percentage of Equatorial Guinea's 250,000 barrels per day and the government is in negotiations with Germany's E.ON AG to develop its gas resources.

Transparency International regularly ranks the nation as one of the most corrupt in the world in its annual corruption index - this year placing it 12th from the bottom on its 180-nation list.

Obiang and his son Teodorin both faced investigation into their multimillion-dollar foreign assets, in France and the United States respectively, but no charges have been filed.

However, Obiang has faced some opposition.

A 2004 coup attempt by British mercenary Simon Mann - aimed at replacing Obiang with opposition figure Sevoro Moto Nsa, based in former colonial master Spain - was foiled when Mann and dozens of South African mercenaries were seized in Zimbabwe.

Obiang pardoned Mann and four of his South African co-plotters in early November.

Gunmen in boats believed to be Nigerian militants last November attacked the presidential palace in Malabo, although Obiang was unharmed.