/ 11 August 2006

E Guinea prime minister and govt resign

Prime Minister Miguel Abia Biteo Borico and the whole government of the West African state of Equatorial Guinea resigned on Thursday, national television reported.

”As a good militant of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea, I hand in the resignation of my government,” Abia Biteo said in a speech relayed on television.

”We will leave our posts for his excellency [President Teodoro Obiang Nguema], so that he can inject a new momentum and energy with a new governmental team,” he added.

Obiang accepted the mass resignation of the government that had been in place since June 2004, but has not yet named a new prime minister.

Obiang had sharply criticised Abia Biteo over the past few months, for corruption and incompetence in particular, and a change of government was widely expected.

According to a source close to the Presidency, Obiang is likely to tap Aniceto Ebiaka Muete, the outgoing Infrastructure Minister, to form a new government for sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest oil producer. — Sapa-AFP