DAKAR: Equatorial Guinea votes on Sunday in a general election in which President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the world’s longest-standing president, is expected to extend his 43-year rule at the helm of the tiny oil-producing West African nation.

Over 400,000 people registered to vote in the country of around 1.5 million. Voters will also cast ballots to elect 100 members of parliament for the lower house, 55 of the country’s 70 senators, and local mayors.

Observers expect no surprises. The 80-year-old Obiang has always been elected with over 90pc of votes in polls whose fairness international observers have questioned given longstanding complaints by rights groups over a lack of political freedom.

He is vying for a sixth term against two opposition candidates — Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, who is running for the sixth time against Obiang, and Andrs Esono Ondo, who is running for the first time.

“The presidential election is completely devoid of suspense,” said Maja Bovcon, a senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

“The closure of the borders and the harassment and arrests of opposition supporters have been paving the way for the extension of Obiang’s 43-year rule,” she said.

The United States and the European Union called for a free and fair election in separate statements, and raised concerns over reports of harassments and intimidation of the opposition and civil society groups.

The government rejected the reports, calling them interference in its electoral process.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2022