afrol News, 21 May - Both the Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court of Equatorial Guinea have confirmed a 99 percent election victory by the ruling party of Dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema. The opposition and observers hold the ruling party stole the 4 May election, as in previous occasions.

The opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) - the only legal opposition party in Equatorial Guinea - was said to have won only one seat in the Malabo parliament, while the other 99 seats went to the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) and its allies. In the parallel municipal elections, the PDGE was to have obtained 319 seats, contrasting 13 for the CPDS.

These numbers had been published as provisional results during the weekend, causing the CPDS to launch a formal protest to the Electoral Commission. CPDS Secretary-General Plácido Micó Abogon slammed elections as a repetition of what the government had been doing over the years. He argued that random procedures prevailed in most polling stations.

Mr Micó cited the disappearance of ballot papers and the failure to replace those that had ran out as some of the notable irregularities. He also claimed that CPDS representatives were harassed in polling stations.

On Monday, however, the Electoral Commission rejected all the complaints presented by the CPDS. In a 6-page report, the Commission went so far to confirm the provisional results presented some days earlier, even if the final results only were to be published the day after.

According to the Madrid-based pressure group ASODEGUE, fighting for democratic reform in Equatorial Guinea, the Commission's report was dominated by "unreasonable arguments," not replying to the documented irregularities. According to ASODEGUE, "the results from the Electoral Commission include gross errors."

Yesterday afternoon, also the Constitutional Court published and confirmed the provisional results as being the final ones. None of the complaints presented by the CPDS where thus taken into account, and the Equatoguinean opposition will only be given one out of 100 seats in the Malabo parliament.

Analysts characterise the Equatoguinean election as a "farce", only being carried out to allow the government claim it has been democratically elected. Since independence from Spain in 1968, no free and fair elections have been held in the country. Equatorial Guinea has been ruled in a totalitarian way by President Obiang since he toppled and killed his uncle, President Macias Nguema, in 1979.

By staff writers

© afrol News

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