The Equatorial Guinean parliament has approved a proposal to bring closer the presidential election from 2023 to November. It comes after Congress gave the government permission to combine the presidential election with legislative and municipal polls.
What to expect
Equatorial Guinea will now hold general elections in November 2022 to elect the President and members of Parliament, as well as local elections. Originally, parliamentary elections were set for November 2022, followed by presidential elections in 2023. However, due to financial restrictions, Parliament approved a plan to consolidate the elections in September 2022.
Political parties will have less than four months to prepare.
Why this is happening
Congress stated that this was necessary because of considerable economic restrictions.
What you should know
President Teodoro Mbatsogo, who is 80 years old, has ruled the country since 1979 and is theoretically able to run for a sixth term, though he has yet to declare his candidacy.
Political opposition is hardly tolerated and greatly hampered by a lack of a free press, as the government owns or controls all broadcast media.