The world’s longest-serving president, who has been in power for 43 years, was reelected in Equatorial Guinea, but the US says it has “serious questions” about the validity of the election results.
According to election officials, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 80, received over 95% of the votes.
“We have severe reservations about the reliability of the reported results given the scope of irregularities detected and the announced results giving the [ruling party] PDGE 94.9% of the vote,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
It said that “serious election-related anomalies, including documented instances of fraud, intimidation, and coercion,” were the subject of plausible charges.
After a military takeover in 1979, President Obiang came into power. He has since thwarted multiple coup attempts. He has complete control over the oil-rich nation of central Africa.
