Guinea Bissau: the president formalizes the postponement of the legislative elections of November 24

Mr. Embalo canceled the decree of July 2024 which fixed the elections on that date, his political adviser Fernando Delfim Da Silva told journalists at the presidential palace in Bissau.

According to the government’s opinion, “the conditions are not met for the holding of elections on the date initially fixed”, says the cancellation decree.

A new decree should set a new date, according to the presidency.

The postponement of the vote had been a given since the end of last week. Mr. Embalo confirmed on Saturday that he would formalize the postponement this week.

Minister of Territorial Administration Aristides Ocante da Silva said that time was too short to resolve logistical and financial difficulties.

Mr. Embalo dissolved Parliament in December 2023 three days after armed clashes which he presented as an attempted coup d’état, yet another illustration of the chronic instability which characterizes this small Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa .

Read also: Legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau: The State will ensure the organization, says Embalo

A coalition formed around the historic African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), an old adversary of President Embalo, had held an absolute majority in Parliament since the legislative elections of June 2023, forcing the president into a tense cohabitation.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world and considered one of the most plagued by corruption, has gone from putsch to armed or political force since its independence from Portugal.

Since the 2014 presidential election, the country has embarked on the path of a return to constitutional order, which has not protected it from turbulence. They persisted after the election of Mr. Embalo as president in December 2019 for a five-year term.

The end of his mandate and the date of the next presidential election are controversial.