Ruling party’s landslide disputed

The ruling Partido democratico de Guinea Equatorial (PDGE) won all but five seats at the 7 March parliamentary election in Equatorial Guinea, according to the final result of the polls, released last evening by the country’s electoral commission. However, the opposition has disputed the result, threatening to boycott parliament, the BBC reported today. According to the officially tally, the PDGE won 75 seats, seven more than in the outgoing parliament. Four went to Union Popular (UP) and one to the Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS). In the outgoing parliament, the opposition has 12 seats. A senior UP politician said on the BBC that his party rejected the result and would not take up its seats in parliament unless the election, which he described as a masquerade, was rerun. However, the president of the electoral commission, Clemente Engonga, said the result was credible and described the opposition as bad losers, according to the radio station.