The vote comes after President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved parliament last year after falling out with lawmakers.
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| President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the national assembly in May last year after falling out with lawmakers [File: Christophe Ena/Reuters] |
Guinea-Bissau heads to the polls on Sunday in legislative elections as voters seek stability more than a year after President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved parliament over corruption allegations.
Twenty-two parties are competing for 102 seats, with some 884,000 people registered to vote. Results are expected within 48 hours.
Three dominant parties, including Embalo's Madem G15 party, share almost all the seats in the national assembly. The other two parties are the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), which have long dominated.
Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government but the president has the power to remove it in certain circumstances. That has led to political deadlock and infighting in the past.
Embalo dissolved the national assembly in May last year after falling out with lawmakers months after foiling a coup attempt.
The president said he had "persistent differences that could not be resolved" with parliament, which said he was plagued by "guerrilla politics and conspiracy."
He accused the legislators of having protected deputies accused in corruption cases and refusing to be audited.
Embalo, a former army general, has long sought to change the constitution, which the international community cites as a major factor behind the country's instability.
While the changes he intends to make are unclear, critics accuse him of seeking to consolidate power after the disputed 2019 presidential election.
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony of about two million people, is notoriously unstable and has suffered four military coups since 1974, the most recent in 2012.
The latest coup attempt was in February last year when gunmen stormed a government compound where Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting. Embalo, who remained in power, linked the incident to the rise of drug trafficking in the country.
The country's scattered Atlantic islands and mangrove labyrinths are a draw for tourists, but also for cocaine smugglers en route from South America to Europe.
Given the fragmented playing field, analysts and politicians doubt that a clear majority will emerge.
“There will not be a winner with an absolute majority in these elections. It's impossible," said Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam, leader of the United People's Assembly-Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau. "No party is ready to govern Guinea-Bissau alone."
Food shortage
The aftershocks from the war in Ukraine, which have driven up world food prices, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have also had a detrimental effect on the country's economy.
A fifth of the population experiences food shortages, according to the United Nations.
Farmers are not happy with the government's increase in the base price of cashew, a key export and source of income for the population.
Discontent with government policy was evident in the electoral campaign.
"We travel all over the country, but the farmers refuse to come to listen to the speeches of some candidates because of the failure of the cashew campaign," Buli Camara, a Madem activist, told the AFP news agency.
"This year, it's a total fiasco."
Elsewhere, there is little enthusiasm for the elections.
Antonio Nhaga, head of a media monitoring group, said the leaders "are not proposing anything that would lead anyone to believe [there will be] real change in people's lives."
But reform is badly needed.
Instability and poverty have made the country attractive to drug traffickers who smuggle cocaine from Latin America to Europe. Timber trafficking and corruption are also rampant.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deployed a team of 15 election observers, while 600 soldiers have been deployed to prevent a new coup.
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