Equatorial Guinea/Elections: A vote celebrated by multiple dysfunctions

Equatorial Guineans went to the polls on Sunday, November 20, 2022 to elect their president. Among the three candidates is the corrupt incumbent, who is running for a sixth term after 43 years at the head of the country. This is the sulphurous Obiang Mbasogo. Apart from a seemingly calm day of voting, at the close of the polling stations, there are many malfunctions.

According to an on-site international media outlet that followed the election from start to finish, at the close of the polling stations at 9 pm in Timbabé, a district in Malabo, several irregularities were observed before and during the count.

In this district, the vote went beyond the 18 hours fixed and another district was in turn distinguished by a delay in the counting.

In general, the closure of the vote on Sunday resulted in a real mess.

According to the carefully selected observers by the regime, “many voters responded”.

For example, one of the observers notes that 586 voters fulfilled their civic duty in the office of a working-class district of 679 registered in total.

For another observer who is committed to power, everything went well.

“… We did not encounter any anomalies in the various polling stations…” he said, welcoming a clean vote.

According to the National Observer, a representative of Buenaventura Monsuy, one of the three presidential candidates, said that she had observed “that not all the operations had any disadvantages”.

Against a background of irregularities denied by the government and its dubious coalition, the campaign of falsehood and misinformation also made its electoral comeback resounding.

The scavengers of the regime with their claws firmly attached to the country’s oil, swear only by fraud that the royalty will endure.
If the counting of the ballots during an election is a crucial moment, in this small oil state of central Africa, the compilation of the results of the 3000 polling stations, is that of all the PDGE’s dream maneuvers to inflate its scores.

The previous presidential elections have already revealed the secrecy of power.

It is not surprising in view of such malfunctions that the past repeats itself once again.

The Electoral Commission is preparing to announce the provisional results during the week.

In turn, the Constitutional Court will rule on the validity or not of the vote.

But will the country’s highest legal body be able to invalidate a troubled and unpopular election that has demonstrated its flaws in terms of credibility and transparency?

Miss OLY