The President of Guinea stressed that 2023 “was not an easy year”

Guinean President Oumaro Sissoko Embalo said this Sunday that 2023, which culminated in his decision to dissolve parliament after a “break in the institutional relationship” between sovereign bodies, “has not been an easy year.”

In his traditional year-end address to the nation, Sissoko Embalo said 2023 was marked by “significant events”, namely the holding of legislative elections in June, which led to the creation of the Platform for Inclusive Alliance (PAI) government. ) took office.-Terra Ranca), led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and won the elections with an absolute majority of votes.

“It seemed that 2023 would end without any incidents that could disrupt the normalcy of national political life. Unfortunately, it did not happen. It was during the parliamentary debates on the general state budget that the institutional relationships that should exist between parliament were established. and the executive branch,” noted Umaro Sissoko Embalo.

Guinea’s head of state said parliament “provoked” what would become a “serious political crisis” in the country, starting “with a financial scandal in the executive branch.”

Then-Economy and Finance Minister Suleiman Seydi and Finance Minister António Monteiro were arrested in late November on charges of fraudulent payments from the state to 11 businessmen, leading to clashes between members of the National Party. The guard who eliminated two leaders of the judicial police cells and the presidential forces, which forced them to return to the dungeons of the PS.

“Faced with this situation, the President of the Republic decided to dissolve the eleventh legislative body of the National People’s Assembly (NPA, Parliament), appointed and swore in a new government and thus guaranteed the functioning of the institutions in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic,” Embalo said.

The PAI-Terra Ranka coalition rejected the head of state’s justification, deeming the decision to dissolve parliament unconstitutional based on Article 94 of the Great Law, which states that the body cannot be dissolved within 12 months of legislative elections.

Embalo ultimately dissolved the elected government on December 4, initially reappointing Prime Minister Geraldo Martins, who, however, refused to create an executive on presidential initiative and was eventually dismissed.

Guinea’s president then appointed economist and PAIGC leader Rui Duarte de Barros to lead his initiative’s government.

In his speech on Sunday, Umaro Sissoko Embalo said that “Guinea-Bissau has not stopped and will not stop” and looks to the future with optimism and “a positive outlook.”

“Guinea-Bissau is a resilient country. The countless development projects that will be carried out in various areas of government will always be under my careful, dedicated and strict gaze,” he assured.

The Guinean head of state added that he will always be “at the forefront” of defending democracy, justice and freedom, and called on the country’s citizens to rely on his judicial influence “to find better solutions” to problems.