Vote gives President more powers

Guinea-Bissau voters approved a constitutional change that will give the President more powers, the country's electoral commission has said, ahead of a general election meant to restore civilian rule later this year. According to africanews, the referendum vote, held Sunday, came less than 10 months after a coup in which the military seized power in the west African country and just months ahead of the 6 December presidential election. Guinea-Bissau is the latest example of an African nation's leaders seeking to amend or overhaul its Constitution to extend term limits, remove age restrictions or expand executive powers, following in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Guinea, Togo, Uganda and Chad in recent years. According to results announced by the country's National Electoral Commission, the ‘yes’ camp prevailed with 70% of the vote. The junta says the change will stabilise institutions before the elections designed to hand power back to civilians. But the political climate is tense in the coup-prone coastal nation and the opposition had urged voters to boycott the referendum ‘in a context of restrictions on public freedoms’. Final results of the referendum are expected to be announced in the coming days by the Supreme Court, which has not received any legal challenges over the vote so far.