Guinea-Bissau: Umaro Sissoco Embalo seeks to stabilize the country or maintain his power?
Legislative elections took place Sunday, June 4th, in Guinea-Bissau. The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, promised to use these elections to stabilize the country. The opposition sees it as a maneuver to consolidate his power once again. According to Umaro Sissoco Embalo, these legislative elections aim at renewing the 102 deputies and attempt once again to end the political paralysis. There are 22 parties competing in the elections. Prior to the dissolution of the last Parliament, three of these parties held almost all the seats in the Assembly: the Madem G15, the political party of the president; the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) founded by Amilcar Cabral; and the Party for Social Renewal (PRS).
Indeed, Guinea-Bissau has been without a Parliament for a year. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the National Assembly following an attempted coup against him.
As political analyst Rui Jorge Semedo points out in an interview with an international media outlet, «the presidency publicly favored a presidential system, while Parliament, at the time, advocated for a semi-presidential system. This dispute will certainly continue in the next legislature».
Many Guinea-Bissau observers believe that this president has only one thing in mind: seizing absolute power.
For some, «for some time now, state institutions have been working practically without any autonomy, which means that the separation of powers practically no longer exists.» Thus, the elections generate little enthusiasm in this country plagued by poverty, drug trafficking, and corruption. Currently, the population is facing a crisis in the cashew market, which is an important source of income for them.
Despite this situation, Julio Mendonça, leader of the country’s main trade union federation, notes that several parties have been directly funded with public money during the campaign.
He also believes, as mentioned in an interview with an international media outlet, that «the campaign they are conducting is the result of embezzlement of public funds. They are running millionaire campaigns. People or parties that didn’t even have a bicycle are now driving brand new luxury cars. It’s an insult to the population. People live in poverty, there is no purchasing power. Workers suffer greatly, there is no healthcare or education system».
Moreover, beyond this climate of mistrust, civil society notes a regression of fundamental freedoms: radio stations being set on fire, activists brutally beaten, bloggers kidnapped and tortured, and opposition members repressed.
It should be noted that since the establishment of democracy in 1994, Guinea-Bissau has had 22 Prime Ministers, three military coups, and has been the scene of a civil war.
Pedro Okalamar
