EQUATORIAL GUINEA

ELECTIONS IN 2004

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Chamber:

Cámara de Représentantes del Pueblo

Dates of election / renewal (from/to):

25 April 2004

Purpose of elections:

Elections were held for all seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.

Background and outcome of elections:

Some 210 000 people were called to the polls on 25 May 2004 to elect 100 members of Parliament (20 more than in the outgoing legislature) and 244 councillors to 30 local councils. It was the first time that parliamentary and local government elections were held simultaneously in the country.

The Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) was the sole party to wage a real electoral campaign against the Equatorial Guinea Democratic Party (PDGE), the party set up by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in 1987 as the then sole party. The opposition campaigned against what it said was "institutionalised corruption" and the abusive nature of the "dictatorial regime that has been in power for 25 years". But it lacked the funds and national profile to take on the PDGE. Mr. Obiang's party campaigned on a ticket promising to improve living conditions for the population. It was supported by eight other parties, the "Electoral Coalition", known as "the democratic opposition", but which apparently were close to the government.

The PDGE held 75 of the 80 seats in the outgoing Parliament. Opposition parties, who had the remaining five seats, had refused to take up their seats in the legislature to protest widespread irregularities in the 1999 parliamentary elections. Prior to the 2004 elections, the 30 municipalities were also controlled by the ruling party.

Voting took place calmly. Nevertheless, two opposition parties, the Popular Union (UP) and the CPDS complained about irregularities in the vote, saying their representatives were barred from polling stations in military barracks. The CPDS Secretary General, Mr. Plácido Micó, protested the opening of more than twenty polling stations that had not previously been announced and subsequently had no opposition election observers and also declared that some high school teachers had voted on behalf of their students. The UP accused the authorities of calling for "a public vote outside polling booths" in at least two cities.

Official results published by the National Electoral Commission (CEN) showed that the ruling Equatorial Guinea Democratic Party (PDGE) had won 68 of the 100 seats in Parliament. The 'Electoral Coalition' took 30 seats. The PDGE and the 'Electoral Coalition' further obtained 237 municipal council positions out of the 244 at stake. The CPDS was the only opposition party to obtain any result, winning two seats in Parliament and 7 municipalities.

On 11 June 2004 the 100 members of Parliament were sworn in.

STATISTICS


Round no 1 (25 April 2004): Election results
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes



Round no 1: Distribution of votes

Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE)			47.45
Electoral coalition			40.47
Social Democratic Rally (CPDS)			5.80

Round no 1: Distribution of seats

Political Group

Total

Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE)

Electoral coalition

Social Democratic Rally (CPDS)

Comments:

The 'Electoral Coalition' is a coalition of small parties close to the ruling PDGE

Source: AFP

Distribution of seats according to sex:

Men:

Women:

Percent of women:

14.00

Distribution of seats according to age:

Distribution of seats according to profession:

<<< Return to the Historical Archive page of parliamentary elections results for Equatorial Guinea <<<