“In Guinea-Bissau, the elections went well, and there is a winner. Or, if I want to be more modest, there are results. And those results must be published,” said Nyusi, former president of Mozambique (2015-2025), who was leading the African Union observation mission on the ground, quoted by Radio Mozambique.
In the same statement, Nyusi criticised the failure to disclose the election results in Guinea-Bissau: “It cannot be avoided, so why is it being avoided? Why was it accepted that there would be elections there, because at the last minute when the ballot box was closed and sealed, after it was finished, there was no such problem. So, there are results, they have to be published”.
The candidacy of Fernando Dias, who claims victory in Guinea-Bissau’s presidential elections, demanded on Wednesday that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) convene a plenary session to declare the election results “as soon as possible”.
In a statement consulted by Lusa on social media, Fernando Dias da Costa’s candidacy reacted to the announcement made on Tuesday by the CNE, which said it was unable to continue with the electoral process and announce the results of the legislative and presidential elections of 23 November due to alleged acts of vandalism at its premises.
Speaking on behalf of the CNE, its deputy executive secretary, Judge Idriça Djaló, announced at a press conference that “it is completely impossible to continue and conclude the electoral process” due to alleged acts of vandalism at its premises, damage to equipment and the confiscation of regional election results.
According to Djaló, the alleged acts were carried out by “armed and hooded men” on 26 November, the day before the provisional results were announced.
On Saturday, a new transitional government was sworn in, with names from the deposed government and five military personnel among the 23 ministers and five secretaries of state.
The candidacy of Fernando Dias da Costa, currently exiled at the Nigerian embassy in Bissau, condemns the “illegal position” of the CNE’s executive secretariat, which he accuses of “usurping the powers” of the plenary session of the body that, he argues, should have been convened to rule on the process.
As such, the candidate demands that the CNE plenary be convened and the results be released “as soon as possible so that the will of the people expressed at the polls is respected.”
Guinea-Bissau has been suspended from ECOWAS and another regional organisation, the African Union, as a result of the coup d’état on 26 November, when a High Military Command seized power, dismissed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who left the country, and suspended the electoral process.
President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo (C) stands in his car during Guinea-Bissaus 50th Independence Day celebrations in Bissau on November 16, 2023. (Photo by SAMBA BALDE / AFP)
The general, presidential, and legislative elections took place without incident on 23 November, and the following day, the opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, supported by the historic PAIGC party, which had been excluded from the elections, claimed victory in the first round over President Embaló.
On the eve of the official results announcement, a shootout in Bissau preceded the seizure of power by the Military High Command, which appointed General Horta Inta-A as transitional president.
The general announced that the transition period would last no more than one year and appointed Ilídio Vieira Té, Embaló’s former minister, as prime minister and finance minister.
On Saturday, a new transitional government was sworn in, with names from the deposed government and five military personnel among the 23 ministers and five secretaries of state.
In the coup, PAIGC leader Simões Pereira was arrested, and the opposition denounced the military takeover as a manoeuvre to prevent the release of the election results.
