Guinea Bissau’s president backtracks and says he is willing to seek a second term if his party asks for it

September 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has said he might be willing to run for a second term if his supporters ask him to, days after saying he would not seek re-election in elections scheduled for later this year in the African country.

During a meeting with supporters of his party, Madem G15, Embalo said that, although he said he would not stand for election, he was “available” to his supporters if they asked him to go to the polls, according to a video of his statements published by the television channel TGB.

“If you say that I should reverse my decision, I am completely at your disposal,” he stressed, after stating last week that he would not stand to make way for politicians “more prepared” than himself and other prominent politicians in recent years.

The president revealed that he had made his decision after speaking with his wife and stressed that he does not expect to be replaced by traditional figures in the African country’s politics, such as Domingo Simoes Pereira or Nuno Gomes Nabiam, but by a new face. “I say this because Guinea Bissau deserves to be led by people who are more prepared than us, the current political leaders,” he said.

The presidential elections have not yet been scheduled, although they are expected to take place between November and December. The parliamentary elections will be held on 24 November and it is not ruled out that the authorities will opt to hold the vote together.

Embaló, who has suffered two coup attempts in 2022 and 2023, took office in February 2020 after beating Simoes Pereira in the second round. He was backed by the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGCV), which until then had led the country since its independence from Portugal in 1974.