The US government yesterday, November 29, 2022, expressed "serious doubts" about the legitimacy of the re-election, officially by a landslide, of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

In power since 1979, Obiang was re-elected in the Central African oil country, according to official results announced on Saturday.

"Given the scale of irregularities observed and the announced results giving the [president's party] PDGE 94.9% of the vote, we have serious doubts about the credibility of the announced results," said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The November 20 election was marred by "credible allegations of significant election-related irregularities, including documented instances of fraud, intimidation, and coercion," said Price in a statement.

"We urge Equatoguinean authorities ... to fully address these credible allegations of voter fraud," he added.

Record holder

Obiang was re-elected to a sixth term as president with 94.9% of the votes cast, election officials announced on Saturday, putting turnout for the vote at 98%.

Voters queue at the Nuestra Senior college polling station in Bisila, Malabo during Equatorial Guinea's presidential, legislative and municipal elections on November 20, 2022. (Photo by Samuel OBIANG / AFP)

Obiang, 80, who seized power in a 1979 coup, is the longest-ruling head of state in the world excluding monarchs. He has never officially been re-elected with less than 93% of the vote.

Electoral commission head Faustino Ndong Esono Eyang confirmed that Obiang would serve another seven years in the top job. The commission said the turnout rate for the election was 98 percent.

The landslide result was widely expected in the oil-rich and authoritarian Central African nation, where the political opposition is extremely weak.

Obiang had the backing of a coalition of 15 parties, including his all-powerful ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE).