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PRESS RELEASE Malabo
– 7 th December 2009 Malabo, December 2nd 2009.
The campaign for the presidential elections in Equatorial Guinea that started on November 5th and ended on November 27th have shown a great improvement of notions like freedom, fairness and transparency.
On its way to democracy, the country has demonstrated a sincere interest in showing the world that modernization is not only a dream but is becoming reality. Observers and the international community noticed that huge improvements have been made during the past years in the fields of infrastructure, logistics and housing, while a fair amount of health care centers, including two very modern hospitals, and schools proved to have arisen amidst even the smallest villages. Development is the key word in the campaign of the ruling P.D.G.E. , the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea) lead by president Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. And it shows.
Despite the fact that the ruling P.D.G.E. will most certainly win the elections with a vast majority, the campaign has given fair opportunity to all contenders to express their opinion, critical in most cases. This has been acknowledged by the foreign observers and the media that came from all over the world, including Al Jazeera, Africa 24 and 34 Telesud.
The five participating parties P.D.G.E.; C.P.D.S. (Convention for Social Democracy); C.S.D. (Social Democrat Coalition); U.P. (Popular Union) and A.P.G. (Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea) all subscribe to the universal democratic principles. To be sure that each party would have sufficient funds to run a campaign, the government allocated approx. 300.000.- euro to each party. The campaign of the smaller parties focused on the two major cities of Malabo and Bata, whereas the ruling P.D.G.E. obviously spent more time in the country. President Obiang crossed up and down the country with his team, wearing green T-shirts and party caps and obviously enjoying mingling with his people. Compared to earlier elections, observers noticed a more convivial and ‘father of the nation’ attitude of the president, which narrowed the distance between him and the electorate, and radiated self confidence and trust in his own vision on peace, development and justice.
Being the ruling party, the presence on posters and in the media was overwhelming, which doesn’t mean that the opposition parties remained invisible. On the contrary, in Bata and Malabo they were as present as the P.D.G.E. when it came to advertising free elections (C.P.D.S.) or major change (C.S.D.) and unity and equality (U.P.). The P.D.G.E. fought for votes to support the continuity of the present programs for free education, health care, job opportunities and all other facets of development that Equatorial Guinea has witnessed since the discovery of oil and gas in the territory.
The candidates of the opposition parties got air time on national television as well as on Africa 24, the channel operating from Paris and covering major parts of West Africa. Opposition and ruling party had the chance to discuss with each other on TV as well as in public appearances, sometimes with astonishing openness and criticism. And no, the politicians or party members that didn’t win the elections are not punished for their bold opinions, as some critics tend to think. It is true that Equatorial Guinea is a small country with a small population (estimated at 1.000.000), and everybody somehow seems to know each other. But it is not culture characterized by revenge or long lasting enmity with those who have different opinions.
Campaigning in Equatorial Guinea means feasting, dancing, eating, laughing and drinking, all of this at the expense of the political parties who distribute candies, T-shirts, baseball caps, ties, shawls and lots more. The people wear the colors of their favorite party, they discuss with their candidates, shout at their political enemies, dance with each other after the rally and are visibly enjoying the weeks of the campaign.
Voting is a serious matter in Equatorial Guinea. From Saturday November 28th till the following Monday, all sales of alcohol were prohibited in order to give the population time to think, to analyze and to go vote. As is the common practice with free elections, voting was secret and supervised, in the case of these elections by representatives of the participating parties, by members of the election committee and by two military who secured the peaceful protocol. The president of each voting district made sure the closed boxes with the votes were transported to the office of the election committee, where the votes were counted in the presence of foreign diplomats accredited to Equatorial Guinea. Also present were representatives of neighboring countries as well as western observers.
The first, unofficial results, were broadcasted by national radio and television a few hours after the first counting of the votes. The P.D.E.G. arose as the winning party, collecting over 96,65 % of the votes, just under the predictions of president Obiang a few weeks ago. Official results will only be available on December 5th.
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