What You Need to Know
The electoral commission in Guinea-Bissau announced it can no longer proceed with the presidential elections held on November 23 due to a military coup. Armed forces seized ballot boxes and destroyed essential data, leading to the suspension of the electoral process.
Africa. The electoral commission in Guinea-Bissau announced that it can no longer complete the presidential elections held on November 23, after armed individuals seized ballot boxes, counting reports, and computers from its offices, destroying the servers that stored the results.
Military officers took control on November 26, just one day before the preliminary election results were to be announced, while several buildings, including the commission’s headquarters, were attacked during the coup.
Idrissa Galo, a senior official in the commission, stated in a statement on Tuesday, “We no longer have the material and logistical conditions to continue the electoral process,” adding that the computers belonging to all 45 commission employees were confiscated and that the counting reports from all regions were taken, with the server containing the results destroyed.
He confirmed that “it is impossible to complete the electoral process without the regional reports.”
On November 27, General Horta Inta was sworn in as the new transitional president, halting the electoral process.
Since then, the military has tightened restrictions, banning demonstrations and strikes. Inta promised a one-year transitional period and announced the formation of a 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the ousted president.
Contested Elections
The coup occurred three days after the presidential elections, with both the outgoing president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa claiming victory before the preliminary results were announced. No results have been published since then.
During the power seizure, Embaló told French media via phone that he had been ousted and arrested, later fleeing to the capital of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville.
Meanwhile, Nigeria announced that its president, Bola Tinubu, agreed to provide protection for Da Costa due to a “credible threat to his life.”
The African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde, one of the prominent political parties in the country, was barred from presenting a candidate in the elections, a decision condemned by human rights organizations as part of a broader campaign to suppress opposition.
The new military authorities in Guinea-Bissau face increasing pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional rule and allow the electoral process to resume.
A high-level ECOWAS delegation, led by its current president and Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, met with military leaders and commission officials in Bissau on Monday, calling for the “full restoration of constitutional order.”
ECOWAS leaders are scheduled to meet on December 14 to discuss the crisis, having threatened sanctions against those undermining the democratic process.
Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability, marked by coups and contested elections. The latest coup occurred shortly after a closely contested presidential election, reflecting ongoing tensions between political factions. The military’s intervention has raised alarms about the future of democracy in the country and has drawn international scrutiny, particularly from regional organizations like ECOWAS, which advocate for constitutional governance.
