The CPLP summit doesn’t start until Sunday, but the discussion has been going on for days. Given Guinea-Bissau’s uncertainty in chairing the CPLP — which should be the next country to take the helm, according to the rotation schedule in alphabetical order — Equatorial Guinea has announced its intention to chair the organization. However, Portugal is trying to convince Bissau to show its availability, after showing its support on Saturday through Prime Minister António Costa and President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“It’s very simple. What was defined since the Luanda summit was that Guinea-Bissau was the country chosen and voted on at this summit,” the Portuguese head of state said on arrival in São Tomé and Príncipe.
There are disagreements within the organization about the legitimacy of Equatorial Guinea being able to assume the presidency, as the country has been cited by several activists and international organizations as a country where human rights are not observed; there is also no representativeness of the political opposition; and even instances of nepotism.
Nevertheless, Foreign Minister Simeón Esono Angue emphasized the integration process: “It is with great honor and pride that we participate in this summit because Equatorial Guinea has completed the integration phase and has entered a new phase of cooperation. take over the role in our community like any other member state.”
And despite the suspicions, the foreign minister dismisses the allegations. “Equatorial Guinea has no human rights problems,” and this criticism is just a “pretext for some countries that are enemies,” he said. “We have already abolished the death penalty, the government has a Portuguese language education program, we speak Portuguese little by little and there are many young people who are already doing it,” Simeón Esono Angue said in Portuguese.
At the 2021 Luanda summit, Bissau expressed interest in succeeding Angola as president, and the decision was postponed, with São Tomé and Príncipe chosen as country. Last month, Guinea’s president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, admitted to stepping down from the rotating presidency of the CPLP and choosing to preside over the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
As for Portugal, Prime Minister António Costa yesterday expressed his support for Guinea-Bissau. On his way to the summit – which takes place in São Tomé and Príncipe – the head of government made a technical stopover in Bissau, where he greeted Geraldo Martins, his Guinean counterpart. At today’s meeting, the African ruler admitted that the country could eventually take the place – at least if “members of the organization understand that Guinea-Bissau can effectively take over this role”. Therefore, António Costa said that if the country makes progress, “it will have Portugal’s support”.
Which, moreover, was repeated by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa upon arrival in São Tomé and Príncipe. Asked by journalists about the support that Prime Minister António Costa has shown today for the Guinea-Bissau presidency of the CPLP, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that “that was the object of consensus”. and for two years,” he defended.
On the other hand, the Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe defended that Equatorial Guinea has the right to assume the presidency of the CPLP. Speaking to Lusa, the official said: “We’ll see if Guinea-Bissau, which would be next in principle, says it doesn’t want to for reasons that lie to itself, and if we can’t convince Guinea-Bissau it will be another country and there Equatorial Guinea has the same right, weight and merit as any other member country.”
Source: DN
