Supreme Court rejects poll petition

Guinea-Bissau’s Supreme Court has rejected a challenge against Umaro Embalo’s victory in last month’s election run-off by the defeated candidate Domingos Pereira. The ruling confirms a surprise election win for Embalo, a 47-year-old former Prime Minister who will replace outgoing Jose Mario Vaz. A report on the SABC News site notes that the court ruling said Pereira should have first filed his complaint with the national electoral commission. The candidate for the majority party in parliament had claimed that the poll was marred by fraud.