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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Equatorial Guinea opposition slams 99 per cent referendum win as sham |
| 2011-11-15 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Equatorial Guinea's small but vocal opposition on Monday ridiculed official results of a referendum showing 99 percent of voters approved President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's new constitution. The oil-rich west African country voted Sunday on a constitutional reform that caps presidential terms but could allow Africa's longest-serving leader to cling on for years whilst grooming his controversial son for succession. With 60 percent of votes counted, "99.04 percent voted yes and 0.96 percent no," Information Minister and government front man Jeronimo Osa Osa Ecoro announced overnight, adding that definitive results were expected on Wednesday. Equatorial Guinea was long seen as one of Africa's most brutal and corrupt regimes but Obiang, now at the helm of sub-Saharan Africa's third oil producer, has embarked on a charm offensive to improve his image. The proposed constitution limits presidential terms to two seven-year mandates but does not specify how Obiang himself, whose current tenure ends in 2016, will be affected. It also creates a post of vice-president, a move the opposition and observers see as the first step towards handing power over to the president's big-spending playboy son Teodoro Obiang Mangue. "It is a completely irrational dictatorship. Results topping 90% are the sign of a totalitarian regime. These results are fraudulent and have been fabricated," the country's only opposition politician Placido Mico told AFP by phone from Malabo. |
| Posted by:Fred |