Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinean opposition unites to form one front

afrol.com, 27 November - The differing parties of the Equatorial Guinea political opposition recently joined forces to form the Front of the Democratic Opposition (FOD), an organ they believe will increase their possibilities to reach a true democratic transition in the country.

According to the exiled Assosiation of Democratic Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea (ASODEGUE), the decision to create the FOD front was taken on a conference in the old Equatorial Guinean capital Malabo. Participating and joining the front were the parties Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS), Unión Popular (UP), Partido del Progreso (PP), Partido Social Demócrata (PSD), Alianza Democrática Progresista (ADP) and Fuerza Democrática Republicana (FDR). These are the principal opposition parties within the country. Further important opposition parties exist in exile, and were thus not able to participate.

According to the Manifesto made on the Malabo Conference, the FOD is mainly a strategy to meet the position the Equatorial Guinean Government has started to take towards the political opposition: "We observe the democratisation process in Equatorial Guinea coming to a stop, in particular after the public statements from the highest circles of the state saying that the opposition has been neutralized and reduced to mere observers of national issues."

Therefore the decision to create a Joint Directory of the Democratic Opposition with the aim of "finding a commonly accepted strategy on how to promote a rapid normalisation of the democratic transition process in Equatorial Guinea." This is to be achieved through "the order of justice and with a spirit of tolerance and permanent dialogue." The Directory, taking the name of the "Front of the Democratic Opposition" (FOD), has not yet determined its structure nor functionality, but the statutes are presently being elaborated.

The opposition party members participating in the conference stated that it had been "necessary for the political parties of the opposition to develop a line of joint action". This was the last remaining way to secure "the right of the Equatorial Guinean people to effectively participate in the national political changes with a vision of constituting a democratic state founded on legal protection."

Sources: Based on ASODEGUE 

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