The

Constitution of Equatorial Guinea The Constitution of Equatorial Guinea () is the basic document of that country. It was approved in 1991 and amended in 1995. In 2011, a referendum was held on a series of constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment (or constitutional al ...

of 1968, was promulgated with a view to the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of the

Republic of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

on October 12, 1968. It is the first Constitution promulgated in Equatorial Guinea, in addition to being a text that enshrines liberal democracy, popular sovereignty, freedom of religion and the right of

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, when in Spain it is still the regime of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

was in force. According to the text, Equatorial Guinea was configured as a sovereign, indivisible, democratic and social Republic, with a presidential system, the president being elected by direct and secret universal suffrage for a five-year term. Likewise, the Constitution ensured the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, based the political structure on the vote of all citizens and determined the separation of functions between the legislative, executive and judicial bodies.

History

In December 1966 the Spanish Council of Ministers agreed to prepare the Constitutional Conference. On October 30, 1967, said Conference was inaugurated. After the second phase of the Constitutional Conference (from April 17 to June 22, 1968), the Constitution (whose main editor was Miguel Herrero de Minon) was published in the Official Gazette of Equatorial Guinea on July 24, 1968, and was ratified in a popular referendum held on August 11 under the supervision of a team of United Nations observers. 64.32% of the electorate voted in favor of the Constitution, which envisaged a government with a General Assembly and a Supreme Court with judges appointed by the president. Officially, it was in force for four years, from its promulgation until July 1973, when a new Constitution was approved. However, it barely entered into force de facto, since in its period of application the country had just achieved independence under the command of Francisco Macías. In March 1969, in the midst of a serious crisis with Spain, he announced the existence of an attempted coup d'état, taking the opportunity to put the political opposition out of play (

Bonifacio Ondó Edu Bonifacio may refer to: Places * Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, a town in Corsica, France * Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica from Sardinia * Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines * Bonifacio Global City, a central busi ...

, Atanasio Ndongo, Federico Ngomo, etc.). In May 1971 he repealed part of its articles to strengthen his personal power and establish a one-party dictatorship, through Decree No. 115, (May 7, 1971). In it, Macías held "the Spanish

neo-colonialists Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to t ...

and imperialists responsible for two coup attempts, putting their traitorous African lackeys on the screen" and justified the repeal of part of the text by stating that the current Constitution, despite participating himself in its elaboration, it had been "prefabricated by Spain". Along the same lines, in July 1972 he promulgated a Constitutional Law declaring himself president of the country for life.

Content and structure

The text of the Constitution was organized around a Preamble, ten titles with 58 articles and a series of final provisions (three transitory and one complementary, the latter providing for the ratification of the text through the subsequent popular referendum) in accordance with the following structure: *Preamble *Qualification. I - THE STATE AND THE CITIZENS (Articles 1 to 8) *Title II. - OF THE HEAD OF STATE (articles 9 to 15) *Title III. - OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC (Articles 16 to 33) *Title IV. - RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC (articles 34 to 40) *Title V. - THE COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC (Articles 41 and 42) *Title VI. - ON THE COMPETENCES OF THE STATE AND PROVINCES (Articles 43 and 44) *Title VII - OF THE PROVINCES AND MUNICIPALITIES (articles 45 to 49) *Title VIII. - ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE (Articles 50 to 53) *Title IX. - ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (Articles 54 to 57) *Title X. - OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM (article 58) *TRANSITORY DISPOSITIONS *SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISION

History

Content and structure

References

Further reading