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Sub Saharan Africa

Guinea-Bissau

 Flag of Guinea-Bissau

Last reviewed: 04 June 2009

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POLITICS

Under domestic and international pressure, Vieira accepted multi-party democracy in 1991. Guinea-Bissau is now a presidential democracy which allows for multiparty politics and has an elected national assembly. Vieira, at the head of the PAIGC (the party formed and led by the Cabrals, but taken over by Vieira), won the first Presidential poll in 1994. In June 1998 a coup attempt led to a protracted stalemate between loyalist and rebel forces. Troops from neighbouring Senegal and Guinea, as well as from the regional peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, intervened before elections were eventually held in December 1999 and January 2000. The opposition leader Kumba Yala was elected in the second round with 72% of the vote and was sworn into office in February 2000.

The 1999 elections failed to resolve the tensions between the government and the military hierarchy. In November 2000 an attempted rebellion by Mane was cut short by forces loyal to the president and rebel leader General Mane was killed. However, Yala’s rule was characterised by chronic political instability as he constantly sacked ministers and reshuffled his government. Eventually he was deposed in a bloodless coup in September 2003. All political parties, including Yala's own PRS, supported the coup. The military handed power to the businessman Henrique Pereira Rosa as interim President. Legislative elections were held in March 2004. No party came out with an overall majority, but the PAIGC, won 45 out of the 102 seats.

The first round of presidential elections took place on 19 June 2005. Yala was beaten into third place by Vieira and Malam Bacai Sanha (the latter standing for the PAIGC), who went into a second round on 24 July. Yala and his supporters initially refused to accept the results of the first poll and 3 died in ensuing protests. However, after mediation by President Wade of neighbouring Senegal, he conceded defeat and declared his support for Vieira in the second round. Vieira emerged as the winner in a close finish, and he was sworn in as President on 1 October. The government coalition collapsed, however, in March 2007 when the National Assembly withdrew its support. After a stand-off the opposition leader Martinho N’Dafa Kabi became Prime Minister in April, and the political situation in the country now appears to have steadied. The mandate of the legislature ended on April 21st 2008. The President then passed a temporary constitutional amendment allowing the continuation of the legislature until further elections could take place. These occurred on 16 November 2008 and resulted in a new Prime Minister, Carlos Gomez Junior, being appointed in January 2009.

Following the March 2009 assassination of President Viera, the interim Head of State is the parliamentary speaker Raimundo PEREIRA. Elections are due to occur in June 2009.

In recent months several media reports have bought to public attention a growing problem of drug trafficking via Guinea Bissau. Drugs coming from Latin America are being smuggled to Europe via the country, taking advantage of the mangrove swamps and jagged coastline, and the poor capacity of the government to deal with the problem.

BBC News: Africa

HUMAN RIGHTS

Guinea-Bissau has a poor human rights record. Opposition politicians and journalists have frequently been harassed in the course of their work. This is partly due to low capacity in the security services, the judiciary and the prison system. It is also due to successive governments acting in an arbitrary manner, undermining the rule of law and allowing the development of a culture of impunity for petty corruption in the police and armed forces. There are a number of credible recent reports that journalists investigating the drug trade are being harassed.

Human Rights Report

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