At stake in this election:

• 55 seats in the Senate (Senado)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vicente EHATE TOMI
• Assembly: Equatorial Guinea has a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Senate (Senado) with 70 seats and the House of People's Representatives (Camara de Representantes del Pueblo) with 100 seats.

* OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO became president after seizing power in a military coup. He was last reelected in 2009.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 7-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
• In the Senate (Senado), 55 members are elected and 15 members are appointed by the President*. In the House of People's Representatives (Camara de Representantes del Pueblo) 100 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.

* The May 26, 2013 election establishes the Senate. Previously, Equatorial Guinea had a unicameral system.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) / Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial*
  • Leader: Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 54
• Party: Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) / Convergencia Para la Democracia Social
  • Leader: Placido MICO Abogo
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1

* All other major parties in Equatorial Guinea are aligned with PDGE. In the last parliamentary election PDGE itself won 89 seats and allied parties won 10.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 704,001 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 292,585 ( 2009 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 371792 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Equatorial Guinea a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Equatorial Guinea ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (23 October 1984)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 34 (19.65%)

·         Human Development Index Position: 138 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A 

Disability Data:

·         Is Equatorial Guinea a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Equatorial Guinea ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 111,111