The president of the parliament of Guinea-Bissau, Domingos Simões Pereira, accused Portugal this Tuesday of allow use by the Guinean head of stateUmaro Sissoco Packed, “instead of contribute to strengthening stabilityfor the construction of democratic institutions”.
“From time to time, from time to time, the President [Sissoco Embaló] evokes conversations with [o Presidente da República de Portugal] Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with Prime Minister António Costa and other authorities [portuguesas]. And it does so with the intention of evoking some parallel with what happens in Portugal and that, therefore, if it is normal in Portugal, it is also normal in Guinea-Bissau,” said Simões Pereira, in a telephone interview with the Lusa agency. made from Lisbon.
“When (…) the Portuguese authorities hear this mention and They do not worry about denouncing and distancing themselves of this reality, become accomplices of what is happening right now” in Guinea-Bissau, he added.
Domingos Simões Pereira highlighted the recent decision by Umaro Sissoco Embaló to dissolve the Guinean Parliament, under the pretext of an alleged coup attempt.
Considered unconstitutional and without legal value on the part of the constitutionalistsSissoco Embaló said, in private and in public, as Simões Pereira told Lusa, that he has opinions from the Supreme Court of Justice, the Faculty of Law of Bissau and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa that validate his decision.
“[Sissoco Embaló] He said he had had a conversation with Marcelo. We deduced that he was referring to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. I do not have the perception, but I am sure that he was referring to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa saying that this article applies under normal conditions, which means that, if an abnormal situation occurred, he would feel in power and duly invested with the conditions to be able to do so,” explained the president of the Guinean parliament.
Domingos Simões Pereira was referring to article 94 of the Guinean Constitution, which expressly prohibits the dissolution of parliament before 12 months have passed since its election.
Guinea-Bissau held legislative elections on June 4. When asked to develop the accusation about what he considers a recurring interference by the Portuguese authorities in his country, Domingos Simões Pereira reported the meeting he held in May 2021 with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Bissau, on the occasion of an official visit. of the Portuguese Head of State.
“During the visit of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he received me at the Portuguese Embassy, saying, drawing attention, that He did not come to interfere in internal affairs of Guinea-Bissau. At a very critical moment for the internal political situation, I drew your attention to the fact that Portugal is not just any country for Guinea-Bissau. The presence of the Portuguese authorities in Guinea-Bissau gives a sign of credibility, gives a sign of support to what is the performance of the entities that these authorities have been receiving,” he recalled.
Then, more recently (on November 16), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa returned to Guinea-Bissau, accompanied by the Prime Minister, António Costa, to participate in the celebrations promoted by the Guinean Presidency of the 50th anniversary of independence.
“The President of the Republic of Portugal visits Guinea-Bissau and when he arrives he says: we have a Constitution similar to that of Guinea-Bissau. It has a Constitution somewhat similar to the Constitution of Portugal, but of an ECOWAS nature. [Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental]. What’s that? An ECOWAS Constitution?” asked Simões Pereira.
“In other words, I was opening space for it to be admitted that, even though our Constitution has a parallel background to the Portuguese Constitution, its interpretation should not be so linear because it is based on other principles that are not necessarily Portuguese,” he said. . aggregate.
“It was very bad and I decided to point it out to the President of the Republic of Portugal.making very clear all the respect I have for the entity that it is, for the position it occupies, for the Portuguese people, for the Portuguese authorities and for great friendship I have for Portugal”, stressed Simões Pereira.
“I cannot admit that, living in this situation that is already considered chronic in terms of instability, Portugal, instead of contributing to the reinforcement of stability, to the construction of democratic institutions, allows itself to be used for this type of mentions. that really They drag us down,” he stressed.
The Lusa agency contacted the Presidency of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau to obtain a reaction to Simões Pereira’s statements, but the source did not wish to comment.
Source: TSF
