Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, has given an explanation for why he is seeking reelection for a sixth time.
According to an AFP report, the 80-year-old told a rally that his party had chosen him to run “because I am the symbol of peace that reigns in Equatorial Guinea.”
He has been in office for 43 years, which is the longest tenure of any president in the oil-rich nation of Central Africa.
On Thursday, his party officially began its presidential campaign; the election is scheduled for November 20.
President Francisco Macias Nguema, who presided over the country at the time of independence and whose leadership resulted in a mass exodus and thousands of fatalities, was deposed by Obiang in 1979.
Out of the nation’s 1.4 million residents, 425,000 are registered voters, according to AFP.
