afrol News, 2 March - The opposition of Equatorial Guinea today denounced President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma, who is also the current African Union (AU) President, for keeping quiet on the North African revolutions.
The main opposition group in Equatorial Guinea, the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) in a statement forwarded to afrol News today strongly criticised AU and national President Obiang over "not having opened his mouth" regarding the events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya; even having prohibited news coverage of them in Equatorial Guinea.
"The events in North Africa, which in addition to Tunisia, Egypt and Libya also have affected Algeria and Morocco ... at this very moment preoccupies the international agenda in the European Union and the UN Security Council. But the AU, where the events are taking place that are the greatest revolution since African independence, has now made any comment," the CPDS statement said.
The Equatoguinean opposition goes on criticising Dictator Obiang, "who has been in power for 32 years," for being the main reason behind the AU's silence on the North African revolutions.
"Even worse, he has prohibited media in Equatorial Guinea to inform about these events," the CPDS told afrol News, referring to an earlier direct order by Equatoguinean Information to national broadcasters to stop reporting about North Africa.
With these acts, according to the CPDS, AU President Obiang was standing out as "the accomplice of Ghaddafi, Ben Ali and Mubarak, making us believe that if the same events should happen in Equatorial Guinea, he would also use the army to shoot at his own citizens to defend his dictatorial powers."
Contrary to President Obiang, the Equatoguinean opposition said it was celebrating and "congratulating the citizens of Tunisia and Egypt for their bravery and determination in their fight for freedom and democracy."
The CPDS urged Equatoguinean citizens "to follow the reporting of foreign broadcasters with the aim of getting correctly informed about the historic events happening in North Africa and the Middle East."
The election of President Obiang as AU President in February caused an outrage by human rights and civil society groups all over Africa and beyond. In fierce competition with Eritrea's president Isaias Afewerki, Mr Obiang is widely seen as the worst dictator in contemporary Africa, and his election to the AU presidency was widely called a "shameful moment" for Africa.
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