Equatorial Guinea, 1993

Mr. President, allow me first of all to express, on

behalf of the delegation, Government and people of

Equatorial Guinea, our most sincere congratulations on your

well-deserved election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its forty-eighth session. Your undeniable

personal prestige and your recognized adherence to the

ideals that inspire our Organization will ensure the success

of our work. Your country, Guyana, is a faithful contributor

to and participant in the United Nations, and offers us today

your great experience and diplomatic skill; these ensure the

success of any decisions that may be taken at this session.

Through you, we should like to extend our congratulations

to the other members of the Bureau in the conviction that

their collaboration will be decisive.

I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate the

outgoing President, Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, and his

Bureau for the contributions and guidance they provided to

the United Nations General Assembly at its forty-seventh

session.

I should also like to convey to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the profound appreciation and

gratitude of His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and

the Government and the people of Equatorial Guinea for his

dedication and the efforts he has exerted in discharging the

great responsibilities with which he has been entrusted in a

manner that is a source of pride not only for Egypt but for

all Africa. In carrying out his mission to promote the

peaceful emergence of a new world order and the

maintenance of peace, I assure the Secretary-General that he

will be able to continue to rely on our full cooperation and

support.

To the new States that have joined our Organization we

extend a very warm welcome. Their presence here

strengthens the United Nations vocation towards universality,

and should contribute to the efforts of the international

community to maintain peace and promote progress and

justice for all nations.

My presence in this world forum should be interpreted

as a clear demonstration of the importance that we attach to

the United Nations, its principles and its noble task of

constantly strengthening the safeguards over the maintenance

of peace and social and economic progress for all peoples.

This task is of singular importance to Equatorial Guinea,

which is engaged in overcoming underdevelopment and

achieving dignified standards of living for its people.

The common denominator of the many statements that

have been made has been the vast changes that have taken

place in the world since the mid-1980s, a trend towards

transformation the pace of which, far from decreasing, has

accelerated considerably.

With the disappearance of the East-West bipolar

structure, which has been replaced by dialogue and

cooperation, we find ourselves - and this is no exaggeration -

faced with a new configuration in international relations

characterized by a certain degree of progress in

disarmament, at the global and regional levels, and an easing

of some regional conflicts.

Equatorial Guinea firmly supports the intensification of

the work of the United Nations through preventive

diplomacy. Measures such as the sending of missions of

inquiry, the use of early-warning systems and the

strengthening of the role of regional and subregional

organizations can be effective in avoiding conflicts which,

once they break out, could require subsequent, much more

costly intervention for peace to be restored.

Peace-keeping operations have also undergone

qualitative change and now cover increasingly varied

activities transcending the traditional sphere. In this respect

I should like to underscore the efforts of the United Nations

in many parts of the world in the humanitarian field, in

providing aid to refugees and in monitoring elections.

Progress and efforts at the subregional level are

commendable. Hence we support General Assembly

resolution 46/37 B, establishing the Standing Advisory

Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, which

is working for peace and confidence-building among the

States of our subregion. As a popular saying goes: "An

ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." With that

Committee we are trying to prevent the emergence of

conflicts in the subregion by developing measures to

alleviate situations of conflict.

None the less, despite these positive steps and

endeavours, at the global level we look to the future with a

certain degree of concern because we still see certain

positions that prevent equitable economic relations and

impede developing countries from exercising international

free trade. The sound of the machine-gun and the cannon is

still dashing the hopes of many innocent peoples to live in

peace and tranquillity. The present international situation,

we might say, fluctuates between uneasiness and hope. We

hope that the global changes and the end of the cold war

will bring renewed life to countries of the third world.

The industrialized countries must understand the need

to resolve, on mutually agreed terms, the external debt

problem of underdeveloped countries. The weight of that

debt is another serious difficulty standing in the way of their

achieving a better standard of living.

My country hopes that the new world scene will be

conducive to the implementation of procedures for sincere

international cooperation for those nations that most need

such cooperation, countries that are now struggling not just

for a standard of living but for their very survival. Poverty,

the sad fate of many States in our world, requires that united

action be taken by the other States in order to remedy the

situation. The gap between rich and poor is widening at an

alarming pace; that disparity can not leave the international

community indifferent. Hence it is necessary to strengthen

the Economic and Social Council and the United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in order

to meet the new realities.

The problem of preserving the environment and the

struggle against illicit drug-trafficking are questions that

require our reflection. With the 1992 Stockholm Declaration

we laid the foundations of certain universal principles to

preserve the global environment and made efforts to stem

pollution, desertification and deforestation. But the situation

required new initiatives, and these culminated in the

Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio

de Janeiro.

We hope that these results will have positive effects

overall and that it will be possible to ensure sustainable

development and the future well-being of mankind.

None the less, I wish to emphasize the obligation of the

developed countries, which bear the greatest responsibility

for the deterioration of the global ecosystem, towards those

other countries that are today being asked to make enormous

sacrifices by limiting their legitimate right to use the assets

given them by nature. There is a need to seek the necessary

compensation for this situation, in particular by the financing

of alternative projects and through technological cooperation.

Within its modest economic means my Government has

always been, and remains, prepared to take action in order

to improve its national environment as a contribution to the

task of preserving the global environment.

We condemn the illicit traffic in drugs and are prepared

to support any international initiative aimed at its

suppression.

The Government of Equatorial Guinea is unflagging in

its struggle against the acquired immune deficiency

syndrome (AIDS) pandemic, and it will spare no effort for

its effective control, thanks to the deep awareness of our

people and the assistance we receive in this connection from

international organizations.

To reflect the noble ideals of peace and justice of the

people of Equatorial Guinea, my Government has embarked

Forty-eighth session - 13 October l993 3

on a progressive democratic process that guarantees to every

citizen of the country the exercise of fundamental rights and

freedoms.

The firm democratic process begun in the country has

been well-received by the people of Equatorial Guinea and

by those countries that set aside mere rhetoric and concealed

political interests, love Equatorial Guinea and hope that it

will progress. The aspiration of the people and the

Government of Equatorial Guinea is that our process will be

carried through in a climate of national concord without

upheaval, without disturbances that could threaten the peace

and stability prevailing in the country.

That is why, following the massive adoption of the new

fundamental law which enshrined our multiparty system, in

the context of Law No. 3 1992 on political parties, the

following political organizations have been made legal.

First, the Popular Union submitted its application on

24 April 1992 and was recognized on 17 October 1992.

Second, the Liberal Democratic Convention submitted

its application on 1 April 1992 and was recognized on 17

October 1992.

Third, the Social Democrat Party submitted its

application on 8 June 1992 and was recognized on 17

October 1992.

Fourth, the Progressive Democratic Alliance submitted

its application on 9 July 1992 and was recognized on 4

September 1992.

Fifth, the Social Democratic Union submitted its

application on 8 June 1992 and was recognized on 17

October 1992.

Sixth, the Progress Party submitted its application on

18 May 1992 and was recognized on 17 October 1992.

Seventh, the Social Democratic and Popular

Convergence submitted its application on 18 May 1992 and

was recognized on 5 February 1993.

Eighth, the Social Democratic Coalition Party of

Equatorial Guinea submitted its application on 4 November

1992 and was recognized on 5 February 1993.

Ninth, Convergence for Social Democracy submitted its

application on 7 November 1992 and was recognized on

5 February 1993.

Tenth, the Equatorial Guinea Popular Action submitted

its application on 28 December 1992 and was recognized on

5 February 1993.

Eleventh, the National Democratic Union submitted its

application on 29 March 1993 and was recognized on 10

May 1993.

Twelfth, the Socialist Party of Equatorial Guinea

submitted its application on 23 March 1993 and was

recognized on 10 May 1993.

Thirteenth, the Liberal Party submitted its application

on 23 March 1993 and was recognized on 12 July 1993.

In addition to other provisions, such as the law

guaranteeing freedom of association and freedom to

demonstrate, and the law on the right to protest and to

petition, the determination of the Government to establish

democracy peacefully in the country has taken concrete

shape in the signing of a document - called the National

Pact - between the Government and the opposition, which

reflects the combined aspirations of all the political forces

and is a channel for ensuring the success of the

democratization process.

Out of our constant desire to give greater political

transparency to the process, we have postponed until 21

November 1993 the legislative elections originally planned

for 12 September 1993. We have done so in order to take

into account and meet the wishes of certain political groups.

The political spectrum for the forthcoming general

legislative elections now looks like this: there are political

parties that have decided to participate in the legislative

elections, political parties that intend to participate in the

legislative elections, and political parties that have not yet

decided whether to participate in the legislative elections.

The political parties that have decided to participate in

the legislative elections are: the Democratic Party of

Equatorial Guinea, the Liberal Democratic Convention, the

Social Democratic Union, the Liberal Party and the Social

Democratic Party. This very morning, my Government

informed me that the Party of the Convergence for Social

and People’s Democracy has also decided to participate in

the legislative elections.

4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

The political parties that have expressed their intention

to participate in the legislative elections are: the Progress

Party, Tomás Boi Cheky Division; and the Social Democrat

Coalition Party, Massoko Division.

With regard to the political parties that have not

decided whether to participate in the legislative elections, the

Government of Equatorial Guinea has received no official

notification of a decision to participate in the legislative

elections of 21 November from the following political

parties: the Progress Party, Severo Moto Division; the

Social Democratic Convergence; the Progressive Democratic

Alliance; the Social Democrat Coalition Party, Buenaventura

Monsuy Division; People’s Action of Equatorial Guinea; the

National Democratic Union; and the Socialist Party of

Equatorial Guinea.

In connection with the revision of the electoral law

proposed by the opposition political parties, on 19 October

and 13 and 18 November the Government extended an

invitation to these parties to participate in some meetings,

but they did not come to the meetings or give any reason for

not doing so.

In view of the opposition parties’ inexplicable refusal

to participate, and in order to avoid any stagnation in the

political democratization process, the Government used its

legislative initiative, under our Basic Law, to adopt a draft

law, which was sent to the House of Representatives and

approved with amendments by that legislative body. The

text of the law was approved and promulgated by our Head

of State in January 1993.

It should be pointed out that the electoral law now in

force is based on comparative law - mainly the electoral

legislation of Spain, France and Gabon. For that reason, the

Government is firmly convinced that the rejection of the

electoral law by the opposition political parties that have not

expressed their intention to participate in the legislative

elections of 21 November 1993 is nothing but a pretext for

delaying or blocking the process that has been set in motion.

There is no doubt that the implementation of the democratic

process in Equatorial Guinea has been made possible by the

selflessness and determination of His Excellency Obiang

Nguema Mbasogo, who, after freedom had triumphed on

3 August 1979, overthrew the dictatorship and began the real

march of the country towards democracy in a climate of

peace and harmony, which the advocates of violence wish to

destroy with their provocations and their contemptible plots.

We in Equatorial Guinea totally reject the views of the

apologists violence and their attempts to undermine national

peace and stability. We reject those who do nothing but

defame our country and our Government, denigrating the

actions that have been undertaken thus far in the country.

A democracy imposed by foreign interests becomes

corrupt and falls apart. A democracy that denies the

genuine, traditional and sacred values of a people not only

hurts the feelings, the pride and the honour of that people

but is also doomed to failure. "Man is what circumstances

dictate", affirmed the great Spanish philosopher Balmes.

That is why only a democracy that can respond to the sacred

interests of the people of Equatorial Guinea will be viable in

the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. In documents A/48/307

of 12 August 1993, A/48/330 of 19 August 1993, and

A/48/357 of 31 August 1993, our Government presented

information on the interference of certain foreign interests in

my country’s internal affairs. From this rostrum, we are

holding the countries responsible for that interference

responsible for the consequences.

We reaffirm that only in an atmosphere of peace is it

possible to achieve the progress and well-being to which all

peoples aspire. To the governmental and non-governmental

organizations and friendly countries that, with their support,

have contributed to the efforts of our Government, we

express our deepest appreciation, and we urge them to

continue to lend their support and cooperation at this

decisive stage in our democratic process.

Intelligent action in this new global society must be

based on the exercise of the firmest solidarity. If that is

done, we shall be able to say with pride, "We the peoples,

for a better world."