8 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has set legislative elections for November 24 after dissolving parliament following allegations of an attempted coup by members of the National Guard seeking to forcibly free two senior government officials detained for alleged fraud.
“Anyone who does not agree can appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice,” he said from Osvaldo Vieira International Airport moments before leaving for China, according to the national broadcasting network.
The president, who has indicated that the announcement is made “in accordance with the Constitution”, announced in December 2023 the dissolution of Parliament after a meeting with the Council of State. Several parties have argued that presidential elections should be held, as Sissoco Embaló’s term ends in February 2025.
The coup attempt led to a clash between members of the National Guard and the Special Forces of the Presidential Guard in the streets of the capital, Bissau. After the release of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Suleiman Seidi, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Antonio Monteiro, the suspects were subdued by the presidential forces.
Minister Seidi and Secretary Monteiro were arrested in connection with a case related to payments to businessmen. These arrests caused tensions in Bissau, the capital, leading to the alleged coup, for which the commander of the National Guard, Victor Tchongo, was arrested.
Sissoco Embaló won a disputed presidential election as a candidate for the Movement for Democratic Alternation, a splinter party of the country’s main party and current majority partner in the government coalition, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGCV). This dissonance has generated enormous political instability in the African country.
The president suspects that what happened is a conflict arising from the current political situation, given that the National Guard is at the service of the Ministry of the Interior –which controls the PAIGCV–, while the Special Forces of the Presidential Guard protect the president.
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