President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, will run for office again in November polls, his party announced on Friday, likely extending a 43-year tenure that began with a coup in 1979.
The world’s longest-standing President who is now 80, is ill-famed for imprisonments, torture of political opponents, sham elections, and corruption, rights groups say. Obiang denies such charges.
The Central African nation has become increasingly reclusive and reliant on oil and gas, which provides over 70% of the nation’s revenues.
His son, Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, a jet-setter with a love for parties, fast cars, and jewelry, and who was convicted of embezzlement by a French court in 2020, said on Twitter on Friday that his father had been nominated to run again “due to his charisma, leadership and political experience”.
Equatorial Guinea’s economy was knocked by COVID-19 and unstable oil prices, although the Ukraine war and the resulting need for non-Russian oil and gas may help spur growth.
Widespread disenchantment remains rife in a country that secured its independence, fifty-four years ago, from Spain.