BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau: Guinea-Bissau will vote on Sunday in a presidential election marked by political and ethnic tensions with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo seeking a second term that would make him the nation’s first leader elected to successive terms.
The presidential and parliamentary elections come at a critical time in West Africa where democracy has recently been challenged by disputed elections that analysts say could embolden militaries that have forcefully taken power in several countries.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the world’s poorest countries, with half its population of around 2.2 million people considered poor, according to the World Bank. It has emerged as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, and has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago.
Embalo, a 53-year-old ex-army general first elected in 2021 and backed by a political coalition of more than 20 groups, is being challenged by 11 other candidates.
Analysts say Sunday’s vote is a close race between Embalo and Fernando Dias da Costa, a little-known 47-year-old backed by former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, the runner-up in the 2019 presidential election.
Pereira and the main opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, which he leads, were barred from Sunday’s election after authorities said they failed to submit their application early.
Nearly half the country’s population are registered to vote, and a runoff will be held if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes.
It is seen as one of the most contentious votes in recent history because of the exclusion of the main opposition party.
“The democracy we knew ... is no longer the model we are experiencing; we are experiencing a model defined by a single person,” said political analyst Augusto Nansambe.
Uncertainty clouds the election
The vote comes at a critical time for the African country which has endured multiple coups, with an attempt reported in October. Embaló has also faced a legitimacy crisis with the opposition saying his tenure had long expired and that they do not recognize him as president.
The Guinea-Bissau leader won an election in Nov. 2019, and was sworn in as president in Feb. 2020, but the opposition contested the result and the Supreme Court did not recognize his victory until Sept. 4. The opposition says Embalo’s term should have ended on Feb. 27 of this year, but the Supreme Court ruled it should run until Sept. 4. The vote, however was delayed until November.
The legislative election is also being held in unusual circumstances. The opposition-dominated parliament has not convened since December 2023, when it was dissolved by Embalo after an attempted coup. The main opposition party won the legislative election in 2023 and in 2019.
“Aside from questions of who emerges victorious, the ongoing electoral story in Guinea-Bissau will be about how to build and sustain momentum for a stable system of government and institutional guardrails against the abuse of executive power,” the Africa Center for Strategic Studies said in its review.
Embalo pitches infrastructure while challenger promises stability
The election campaign was marked by accusations of hate speech, murder and corruption from the different candidates — a trend that could throw the country into crisis, according to Denise dos Santos Indeque, coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding in Guinea-Bissau.
Embalo hinged his campaign on infrastructural development including roads construction and the modernization of the country’s main airport.
Dias, on the other hand, promised to promote stability, freedoms and security. He accused Embalo’s government of “systematic” human rights violations, urging people to “vote for change, for national unity, for reconciliation, for peace, and for an end to the authoritarian regime in Guinea-Bissau.”
In the capital of Bissau, resident Marinho Insolde expressed optimism the election outcome would improve conditions.
“I hope that these elections will bring peace and tranquility so that there is no more hunger,” said Insolde.
Guinea-Bissau’s president seeks second term in close race marked by tensions
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Guinea-Bissau’s president seeks second term in close race marked by tensions
- The presidential and parliamentary elections come at a critical time in West Africa
- Democracy has recently been challenged by disputed elections that analysts say could embolden militaries
Trump says he asked Putin not to target Kyiv for 1 week during brutal cold spell
- “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold,” Trump said
- Zelensky, for his part, thanked Trump for his effort and welcomed the “possibility” of a pause
KYIV: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that President Vladimir Putin has agreed not to target the Ukrainian capital and other towns for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin that Putin has agreed to such a pause.
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin has “agreed to that.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked earlier Thursday whether a mutual halt on strikes on energy facilities was being discussed between Russia and Ukraine, and he refused to comment on the issue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late Wednesday had warned that Moscow was planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for further US-brokered peace talks at the weekend.
Trump said he was pleased that Putin has agreed to the pause. Kyiv, which has grappled with severe power shortages this winter, is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), the State Emergency Service warned.
“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call. You’re not going to get that.’” the Republican US president said of his request of Putin. “And he did it. And we’re very happy that they did it.”
Zelensky, for his part, thanked Trump for his effort and welcomed the “possibility” of a pause in Russian military action on Kyiv and beyond. “Power supply is a foundation of life,” Zelensky said in his social media post.
Trump did not say when the call with Putin took place or when the ceasefire would go into effect. The White House did not immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of the limited pause in the nearly four-year war.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water over the course of the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022 as Russia intensified its aerial barrages behind the front line, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country.
The war killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in Ukraine — 31 percent higher than in 2024, it said.
