Twenty parties and two coalitions are vying for the votes of nearly 900,000 Guineans in the seventh parliamentary election since the country left the one-party regime. The examination of the 102 seats in the National People’s Assembly comes more than a year after that body was dissolved by President Embaló and the date was postponed from December to now. Wanting to allay fears ahead of election day, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, as head of the African Union’s monitoring mission, said “the country must move forward”. However, Embaló’s disproportionate role in a campaign notable for its lack of debates and few restrictions has some observers worried about the post-election moment.
The main coalition, PAI – Terra Ranka, led by PAIGC, is complaining about foul play. As the leaders denounced, a plane from India carrying campaign materials was not allowed to land because it had been diverted to the Gambia. But once there, the Gambian authorities refused to allow the cargo to be transported in a truck, prompting PAIGC leader Domingos Simões Pereira to criticize the “authoritarian drift of a regime without direction or purpose”. As for President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s party, Madem-G15, there was no shortage of posters – and soon with the figure of the president next to the party symbol or next to party leader Braima Camará.
Accused of lacking the neutrality his position dictates, Embaló did not stop at borrowing the image. At the opening ceremony of the artisanal fishing port of Bissau (another public work carried out by China), the president once again interfered in the campaign. This time by warning that he will not nominate the PAIGC’s two main figures because he had argued that they had bills to pay in court. On the other hand, it conceded a government formed by PAI and Madem-G15.
“An insult to democracy in Guinea-Bissau,” Guinean researcher Wilson Té told Lusa, who also predicted that Embaló would want to have the final say in choosing ministers for key portfolios. Also to Lusa, Domingos Simões Pereira said that in case of a victory of his coalition, the president can only abide by the laws and the will of the people. Days earlier, the coalition had written an open letter asking for an end to Embaló’s meddling in the election.
Joaquim Chissano says it is time for Guinea-Bissau to leave, but the results could plunge the country into another political crisis.
Besides the temptation of the president, another issue could flare up in the coming hours depending on the electoral process: the legitimacy of the National Election Commission, whose executive secretariat works with its mandate that has expired thanks to the dissolution of parliament. According to political analyst Rui Jorge Semedo, the parliamentary elections cannot be considered transparent, free and fair. “We live in a period of non-rule of law and no one is able to access the fundamental principles, to defend their rights,” he said.
Women’s rights, for example: although the parity law provides for a minimum of 36% women in decision-making positions, the party lists did not comply with the provision and the Supreme Court did nothing. If there were 13 female MPs in the last legislature, now there are only 11 in eligible seats, now there are only 11 in eligible seats, according to Deutsche Welle.
The political moment is also affected by the cashew nut campaign, which has so far turned out to be a disaster. Dealers do not offer farmers the basic price of a product on which 80% of the population depends. “It is a very difficult situation and there is real hunger,” said APU leader and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam.
“Total fiasco” summarized to AFP Bull Camará about the campaign of his party, Madem G-15, over the cashew nut issue. The leader, Braima Camará, said he will resign if he does not get a majority.
Figures
Umaro Sissoco Embalo
When the main protagonist of the legislature is the president of the country, a lot is said. Embaló’s face appears on the posters of his party, Madem-G15, a situation he devalued by saying all parties are authorized to use his image. The head of state has already warned that he will have the final say in the formation of the government.
Nuno Gomes Nabiam
The prime minister and leader of the APU-PDGB, on the other hand, ran a low-key campaign. His party faced a split that led to the loss of leaders, so Nuno Gomes Nabiam’s main goal is to keep deputies in the assembly.
Domingos Simoes Pereira
The PAIGC leader, who ran alongside Embaló in the last presidential election, is the main figure of the five-party PAI-Terra Ranka alliance, which ran a campaign centered on youth and women. If the coalition gets the most votes, neither Simões Pereira nor his deputy Geraldo Martins will be nominated as heads of government, the president warned. The PAIGC won the 2019 legislature, but moved to the opposition in 2020, after Embaló fired Prime Minister Aristides Gomes.
Source: DN
