Guinea-Bissau Electoral Commission Says December Poll Conditions Unmet

Guinea-Bissau’s National Electoral Commission says conditions are not in place for planned December legislative and presidential elections, leaving the timing of a return to civilian rule uncertain.

Guinea-Bissau’s National Electoral Commission has said the conditions required for planned legislative and presidential elections in December have not been met, raising uncertainty over the country’s transition back to civilian rule.

Commission vice-president Felisberta Moura Vaz said the electoral body had informed General Horta N’Tam, the military leader and transitional president, of its assessment.

Vaz said she could not confirm whether the elections would be postponed. The decision, she said, was a “matter for the transitional president.” The commission did not specify which conditions it considered incomplete, and no alternative date was provided.

Political preparations remain uncertain

Prime Minister Ilidio Vieira Te also questioned the readiness of the country’s political parties. He said no party was “yet in an ideal position to contest the elections” because most party leadership structures were outdated.

The elections were planned as part of a process to restore civilian government after a military takeover in November of the previous year. Military leaders adopted a transitional charter lasting one year following the coup.

The takeover occurred one day before provisional election results were due to be announced. Many observers suspected that ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo had orchestrated the coup to stop an electoral process he appeared to be losing, although that remains an attributed suspicion rather than an established fact.

Former president barred from return

Embalo was barred from returning to Guinea-Bissau last week. The country’s new leaders have also appeared to distance themselves from the former president in recent weeks.

Several members of the presidential guard, a unit described as loyal to Embalo, were disarmed and placed under supervision at military headquarters.

Guinea-Bissau lies between Senegal and Guinea and has experienced five coups, along with numerous attempted takeovers, since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. The uncertainty surrounding the December vote leaves the timetable for ending the current transition unresolved.