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Equatorial Guinea Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Equatorial Guinea
Official Name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Capital: Malabo
Area: 28,050 square kilometres (10,830 square miles)
Major cities (Population): Malabo 30,000 (1990 estimate)
Population: 400,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 2.5 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic; nominally in transition to multi-party democracy
Independence: 12 October 1968 (from Spain)
Constitution: New constitution adopted 17 November 1991
Voting Rights: Universal adult voting rights; minimum age not available
Government
The constitution of the republic of Equatorial Guinea provides the president with extensive powers as commander-in-chief of the military and minister of defence. The president also appoints all cabinet members and makes laws by decree. The unicameral House of Representatives of the People has 80 representatives. Fifteen of these are appointed by the president and the rest are elected by district. Parliament cannot act without the president's agreement, and the president has the right to dissolve the legislative body. Each of the seven provinces has a governor appointed by the president. The judicial system is also headed by the president and the judicial advisers. When they are not in conflict with constitutional law, tribal laws and customs are usually honoured.
Recent History
The region of Río Muni (on the mainland) and the island of Bioko were united by the Spanish to form Spanish Guinea. In 1959 Spanish Guinea was made part of Spain, with all indigenous peoples gaining full citizenship. Representatives were sent to the parliament in Madrid. In 1963 a measure of autonomy was granted and a joint legislative body was set up. Following a referendum, the country became independent on 12 October 1968 under the new name of Equatorial Guinea. A coalition government was formed under President Francisco Macías Nguema, who had been elected the previous month.
In 1969 there was an attempted coup, and in 1970 Macías banned all political parties. In 1972 he assumed complete control over the government and presidency for life. Sustained by economic support from Spain, Cuba, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and China, Macías ruled brutally. About one-third of the population was either exiled or executed under his regime, and 20,000 Nigerians left, which greatly disrupted Bioko's cacao processing industry, the country's primary source of income.
On 3 August 1979, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the commander of the national guard and a nephew of Macías, staged a coup and Macías was executed after a trial attended by international observers. Under Obiang Nguema the economy has improved, but there has been little political progress. It was not until 1987 that a single, government-controlled political party was allowed, and although multiparty elections were held under a new constitution in 1993, they were described by some Western observers as a “parody of democracy”. The President's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea won 68 of the assembly seats, but many opposition parties and the majority of the electorate boycotted the elections in the belief that they would be rigged by the government.
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