Guinea-Bissau is to elect its next president on Sunday, seeking to turn the page on a tumultuous history of coups and unrest with a vote that nonetheless lacks the country’s main opposition.
About 860,000 voters are to choose between 12 candidates, including incumbent Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who is the favorite to land a second five-year term.
Voters in the west African nation are also to elect 102 members of parliament, which was dissolved by Embalo in December 2023.
Photo: Reuters
It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 40 percent of its population living in extreme poverty.
Its recent history is marked by political crises including four coups, a string of attempted coups, and government collapses.
“Our parents fought to liberate this country, but the heirs have destroyed everything for personal gain,” said Djibril Sanha, a 30-year-old teacher in Bissau. “We don’t want to hear about violence or coups anymore. Enough is enough.”
The vote marks the first time in Guinea-Bissau’s history that the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which led the former Portuguese colony to independence in 1974, would be absent from the ballot.
PAIGC and its candidate Domingos Simoes Pereira, who also leads the Pai Terra Ranka coalition of parties, were disqualified by the Supreme Court.
While stability is the main issue, many of the nation’s 2.2 million citizens also want the next president to deliver better healthcare, education and infrastructure.
They are also demanding jobs and reforms to address poverty, corruption, drug trafficking and other problems.
Lucia Bird, an expert at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, doubts the legislative and presidential elections would bring greater stability given the country’s recent history.
As was the case in the 2019 presidential election, she fears there would be allegations of irregularities after the vote.
“In Guinea-Bissau, problems usually arise after elections”, said Bird, who directs the organization’s Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa.
Embalo’s main challengers are former president Jose Mario Vaz and opposition candidate Fernando Dias, who poses the biggest threat after receiving support from both PAIGC and Pereira.
Embalo and Vaz are the only heads of state in the past 30 years to complete their terms without being killed or overthrown.
With Pereira and his party barred by the Supreme Court for filing late applications, the opposition alleges “manipulation of the electoral process.”
Bird believes that Embalo is in a “strong position” to win a second term.
“This is partly explained by the fact that he was able to conduct his campaign without restrictions, unlike the [remaining] opposition, which faced significant limitations,” such as a lack of resources, she said.
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