The world’s longest-serving president will remain in power for the foreseeable future. According to the official results of the presidential elections in Equatorial Guinea, 80-year-old Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo won nearly 95 percent of the vote. His son, who is also the vice president, reported this on Twitter. Obiang rules with an iron fist and there is no real opposition in the country.
The election results are not surprising. In the 43 years Obiang has been president of Equatorial Guinea, he has always won more than 90 percent of the vote.
Critics say there is no democracy in the country. Obiang’s political opponents have been arrested and tortured, protests are banned, and there is no freedom of the press in the country, according to human rights groups.
Since independence from Spain in 1968, Equatorial Guinea has only had two presidents. The first was Obiang’s uncle, but he was overthrown when the current president staged a coup in 1979.
Obiang’s Democratic Party also won all seats in the Senate and Parliament of Equatorial Guinea during the November 20 elections. “The end result proves us right,” the vice president wrote on Twitter. “We are the best political party.”
