Convergence for Social Democracy (Equatorial Guinea)

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Convergence for Social Democracy
Convergencia Para la Democracia Social
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 100
Website
www.cpdsge.org Edit this at Wikidata

Convergence for Social Democracy (Spanish: Convergencia para la Democracia Social, CPDS) is the opposition party in Equatorial Guinea. It was the only opposition party with parliamentary representation during 2013-2017.

Structure

The CPDS is headed by a president and a secretary-general, who are currently Santiago Obama Ndong and Andres Esono Ondo, respectively. The Secretary-General is defined as the leader of the party, while the President is assigned the role of a moderator.[1]

History

After operating clandestinely and publishing its newspaper La Verdad ("The Truth") in the early 1990s, the CPDS applied for legal recognition in November 1992 and was given legal recognition in February 1993. The party was led and founded by Secundino Oyono Edú-Aguong. The CPDS attributed this recognition to international pressure.[1]

In December 1994, the CPDS held its Constitutive Congress in Bata. The Congress chose Plácido Micó Abogo as Secretary-General at the head of an Executive Commission. The party held its Second National Congress in Bata in February 2001; Plácido Micó Abogo was again chosen as secretary-general. The Third National Congress, held in Bata in February 2005, again chose Plácido Micó Abogo as Secretary-General and elected a National Executive Commission.[1]

Plácido Micó Abogo was the only CPDS candidate to win a seat in the

December 2002 presidential election was Celestino Bonifacio Bacalé, who withdrew from the election along with other opposition candidates due to alleged fraud and intimidation[2][3] but remained on the ballot and won 2.2% of the vote; President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
won 97.1%.

In the

May 2008 parliamentary election, it won one out of 100 seats;[4][5] this seat was won by Plácido Micó Abogo.[5]

Although the Convergence is a legally recognized party, its members are regularly detained and/or tortured by police.[citation needed] The CPDS acquired a radio station in August 2008 and began broadcasting from it in September. The police raided the CPDS headquarters on 13 September 2008, searching for the party's radio transmitter, although the police reportedly failed to find the transmitter and only seized electoral campaign material.[6]

The CPDS is a full member of the Socialist International.[7]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2002
Celestino Bonifacio Bacalé 4,570 2.17% Lost Red XN
2009
Plácido Micó Abogo 9,700 3.57% Lost Red XN
2016
Did not contest
2022 Andrés Esono Ondó 9,684 2.31% Lost Red XN

Chamber of Deputies elections

Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
1999
Plácido Micó Abogo 9,735 5.30%
1 / 80
Increase 1 Increase 3rd Opposition
2004
12,202 6.03%
2 / 100
Increase 1 Steady 3rd Opposition
2008
1 / 100
Decrease 1 Steady 3rd Opposition
2013
Andres Esono Ondo
1 / 100
Steady Increase 2nd Opposition
2017[a]
2.23%
0 / 100
Decrease 1 Decrease 3rd Extra-parliamentary
2022
0 / 100
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
  1. ^ Run as part of the Together We Can coalition (CPDS - UCD)

Senate elections

Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
2013
Andres Esono Ondo
1 / 70
Increase 1 Increase 2nd Opposition
2017[a]
2.23%
0 / 70
Decrease 1 Decrease 3rd Extra-parliamentary
2022
0 / 70
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
  1. ^ Run as part of the Together We Can coalition (CPDS - UCD)

Notes

15 members of the Senate are appointed by the President

References

External links