The world’s longest-standing leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, will run for office for the sixth term in the upcoming November elections.
His son and vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, also known as Teodorin, made the announcement in a statement on Friday, September 22.
The 80-year-old president’s regime began when he sn@tched power in a 1979 coup and has lasted for 43 years now.
“Because of his charisma, his leadership, and his political experience”, the ruling party unanimously chose Obiang as its candidate for the November 20 poll, Obiang Mangue said.
The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) holds 99 of the 100 seats in the outgoing lower house of parliament and all 70 of the senate seats.
But it had not been clear who would be named as the party’s candidate on the presidential ballot. No other candidate has so far been declared.
