Equatorial Guinea president to run again to extend 43-year rule
The world's longest-standing leader,
President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, will run for office again in
November elections, his party announced on Friday, likely extending a 43-year
tenure that began when he snatched power in a 1979 coup.
The rule of Obiang, 80, has been marked by
torture of political opponents, sham elections, and corruption, rights groups
and foreign powers say. Obiang denies such charges.
Under him, the West African country has
become increasingly reclusive and reliant on oil and gas, which provide about
three quarters of state revenues. The money lines the pockets of those close to
the president while the majority of the nation lives in poverty, rights groups
say.
His son, Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang
Mangue, a jet-setter with a love for parties, fast cars, and jewelry, and who
was convicted of embezzlement by a French court in 2020, said on Twitter on
Friday that his father had been nominated to run again "due to his
charisma, leadership and political experience".
Another term will bring fresh challenges. The
economy was knocked back by COVID-19 and a drop in oil prices, although the
Ukraine war and the resulting need for non-Russian oil and gas may help spur
growth.
Widespread poverty remains. That was laid
bare when a series of explosions at an army barracks flattened a part of the
coastal city of Bata last year, killing about 100 people and triggering an aid
response from former colonial power Spain.
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