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Teodoro Obiang becomes the world’s longest-serving leader after winning a sixth term in Equatorial Guinea.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of Equatorial Guinea, was re-elected with 95% of the vote on November 20, and his party won every seat in the senate and the legislature, according to his son Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who announced the results on Twitter on Saturday.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of Equatorial Guinea, was re-elected with 95% of the vote on November 20, and his party won every seat in the senate and the legislature, according to his son Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who announced the results on Twitter on Saturday.

The vice president tweeted, “The clear findings demonstrate that we were once again correct.” “We keep demonstrating that we are a fantastic political party!” Mangue is quoted by Reuters as saying.

The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), which is in power in Obiang’s country, won all 55 seats in the Senate as well as 100 seats in the lower house, or Chamber of Deputies.

The remaining 15 senate seats can now be appointed by the president, according to his son.

With a victory, Obiang, 80, would be able to serve a sixth term in office, extending his 43-year rule and solidifying his position as the world’s longest-serving leader.

Francisco Macias Nguema, who had taken office as Equatorial Guinea’s first president following its independence from Spain in 1968 and later proclaimed himself ruler for life, was deposed by him. Obiang’s uncle Macias was put to death by firing squad two months after the takeover.

Opponents of Obiang claim that during his hermetic, iron-fisted rule, the nation transformed into “North Korea of Africa.”

Rights watchdogs frequently criticize the regime’s cruelty, which has been documented by mass, arbitrary arrests, the detention of dissidents in dreadful jail conditions, and periodic sweeps against alleged plotters.

Obiang has nearly absolute political authority in a nation with just one recognized opposition group.

In 2016, he received 93.7 percent of the vote, but this time, the official results showed that he received 94.9 percent of the vote on a 98 percent turnout.

Son is waiting

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, also known as Teodorin, is largely seen as Obiang’s successor and currently serves as vice president.

The senior Obiang stated that this would be his final campaign in an interview with the French-language Jeune Afrique magazine conducted prior to the 2016 election.

The people want me to be their president, he added, “but I have been in power for too long.”

He responded, “Equatorial Guinea is not a monarchy,” when asked if Teodorin was being prepared for leadership. I have no control over his talent, though.

Speculation that he would hand over the reins in the upcoming vote gained pace as his public appearances became rarer. But those expectations were quashed after Teodorin was enveloped in scandals abroad and a conviction in France for ill-gotten gains — state assets acquired illegally.

France, Britain and the United States have ordered him to forfeit millions of dollars in assets, from mansions to luxury cars, while France also handed him a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 30 million euros.

The storm, coinciding with a downturn in oil revenue and the economic blow inflicted by Covid, may have prompted the elder Obiang’s inner circle to advise against leadership change.

The PDGE unanimously chose Obiang as its candidate “because of his charisma, his leadership and his political experience”, Teodorin wrote on Twitter. The party’s election slogan, seen universally on posters and state TV, was “continuity”.

Phobia of coups

While the nation of Spanish Guinea was still governed by General Francisco Franco, Spain’s fascist ruler, Obiang received his military school diploma.

After thereafter, he held a number of important positions, including that of director of the infamous Black Beach jail, which Amnesty International called a “living hell.”

His bloody rise to power left a strong fear of coups in its wake.

His bodyguard is made up of soldiers from his clan, but for added precaution, he also reportedly has a close-protection team made up of Israelis. Additionally, Ugandans and Zimbabweans have been sent in to assist with security at the presidential residence.

In his lengthy tenure in office, Obiang claims to have thwarted at least 10 coup and assassination attempts, frequently blaming exiled dissidents or “foreign powers.” In order to foil suspected plotters, the authorities closed the borders before the elections. The finding of oil in territorial waters in the middle of 1996 has strengthened Obiang.

Equatorial Guinea is now the third-richest nation in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of per capita income thanks to the windfall. However, the wealth is very unequally distributed; according to the most recent available data from the World Bank for 2006, four out of every five people in the country of 1.4 million live below the poverty line. The nation has a long history of corruption; according to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, it is ranked 172 out of 180 countries.

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