December poll delayed

Guinea-Bissau’s presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for 6 December, will have to be delayed, said Prime Minister Ilídio Vieira Té, reports Channel Africa. The West African nation held a presidential election in November last year that was disrupted when soldiers toppled the civilian government before the results could be announced. Voters in ⁠August approved a new Constitution that expanded presidential powers. Vieira Té said political parties had not held their congresses to choose their leaders, and potential candidates for the election had missed the 6 October deadline for submitting their bids to the nation’s Supreme Court. Vieira Té did not offer a timeframe for setting a new date for a ‌vote, ⁠stating, ‘there are no conditions for holding the elections scheduled for 6 December’. Recently, the government blocked the former President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, from returning, citing national security concerns. Embalo had planned to contest the presidential election. Civil society activists say the current interim government has used fear to crush political dissent, citing the unsolved ⁠murder of Vigario Luis Balanta, a popular rapper and founder of a political movement, as a high-profile example. The ⁠government denies a role in Balanta’s killing, and said it was investigating to find those responsible.

 

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