   |
|
afrol.com, 16 October - On Thursday 12 October, Equatorial Guinea celebrated 32 years of independence from Spain. On that occasion, the small border town of Ebebiyin hosted the President of the Republic, Teodoro Obiang, and other high officials in their celebrations. The opposition took the opportunity to contemplate about the future of the country, where the cancer-sick president prepares the succession of his son Teodorín for the Presidential Office. The day in general passed without special incidents. It was marked by the obligatory military parades and the reception of foreign officials. The organisers had to take care of all those who stranded on the bad road connection between Niefang and Ebebiyin, and brought to their destination in trucks. Most noted was the arrival of the son of President Obiang, Teodorín, which arrived with a crew of followers and life guards that was remarkably bigger than his father's. On the occasion of the anniversary of the country, the opposition parties expressed their concern about the situation in Equatorial Guinea. They were especially concerned about the growing signals that the president, himself suffering from cancer, is preparing his son Teodorín to take over the office of the president, ignoring thus the Constitution. Felipe Ondó, president of the Fuerza Demócrata Republicana (FDR), stated that the "dictator [Obiang] wants to pass his post to his son, and the strategy he is using is cleansing the persons he suspects to be against this decision from the Military Forces." The oppositional politician says that Obiang was trying to "impose a republican monarchy" and claims that his first-born already had been received "with all the Honours of a Head of State" in various places in the country. On the other hand, Aquilino Ona Nchama, from the UDDS stated denounced "Obiang's active campaign in African, European and American countries for his succession by his first-born and present Minister of Water and Forests." ASODEGUE (Asociación por la Solidaridad Democrática con Guinea Ecuatorial), for their part, equally assured that "the disease has made Obiang worry more an more about his succession and that "Teodorín is the candidate in the circles most intimates to the dictator." The party also claims to be have information that Guinea's ruling party, Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE), will hold a Party Congress within few months, where the President's son "will be given the post as Vice-President of the party," which would make him a candidate for the presidency. However, official sources assure that Obiang "stays in his office until his seven years mandate runs out in 2003," and that "his health would permit him to stand for another mandate". The Equatorial Guinean party Unión para la Democracia y el Desarrollo Social (UDDS), in its statement to the 32nd anniversary of the country further calls on the entire Guinean population to take action to change the situation. Its Secretary-General, Aquilino Nguema Oná Nchama, invited, "without any exception, every Equatorial Guinean to a profound reflection about the social, political, economic and cultural crisis to which our country has slipped into since gaining its national sovereignty on 12 October 1968." The UDDS reminded that "thirty-two years is the age of a mature person, capable of changing its way and decide in favour of a wider horizon. The Yugoslavian people just gave the world a lesson in prudence and courage." Sources: La Diáspora, ASODEGUE, opposition parties
|
