Equatorial Guinea's referendum results validated by Constitutional Court

Equatorial Guinea's referendum results validated by Constitutional Court
Equatorial Guinea's Constitutional Court has validated the Nov. 13 referendum results, where the "yes" vote won more than 97 percent of the tally for the constitutional reforms proposed by President Teodore Obiang Nguema.

The results showed that 97.7 percent of the voters support the reforms with a turn out of 91 percent, the court disclosed on Friday.

The constitutional reforms envisage the limitation of presidential terms to two with each lasting for seven years, the creation of the post of vice-president and five institutions, including the Senate, the Revenue Court, the State Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Council for the Defense of the People.

"A new chapter of Equatorial Guinea's political history will be opened once the new institutions are created," Constitutional Court President Salvador Ondo Nkumu said.

Obiang, who came to power in 1979 through a coup d'etat, won the 1989 elections and was reelected in 1996, 2002 and 2009.

The authorities have not said whether the limitation of presidential terms will begin once the reforms have been adopted.

The country's opposition has insisted that the referendum was "a lie," with a turnout of "less than 25 percent." It sees the vote as only meant to institute family succession in the West African country's presidency.

The opposition also says the post of the vice-president was created for Obiang's son Teodorin, who is the current deputy for the ruling party and minister for agriculture.

Editor: Fang Yang

English.news.cn   2011-11-19 17:56:22 FeedbackPrintRSS
MALABO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua)