Guinea-Bissau Legislative Election Campaign Ends Today

The campaign for Sunday’s legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau ends this Friday, with major parties holding their final rallies in the capital of Bissau.

This is the seventh legislative election since the opening of the multi-party system, in which 20 parties and two coalitions compete.

The main competitors are the Movement for Democratic Alternation (Madem-G15), currently in government, and the Plataforma Aliança Inclusiva (PAI)-Terra Ranka coalition, which includes the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC, in opposition), in which also includes the Union for Change (UM), the Democratic Rapprochement Party (PCD), the Guinean Democratic Movement (MDG) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Major political forces include the Party of Social Renewal (PRS), which is part of the current government initiated by the president but has criticized the actions of the executive during the election campaign, and Botche’s Workers’ Party of Guinea (PTG). Minister of Agriculture, who also distanced himself from the parties that make up the government.

The Assembly of the United People’s Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau (APU-PDGB) of Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiama showed a more cautious presence in the election campaign, and the head of government foresaw that no party would win a majority, consensus is necessary to form an executive branch.

PAIGC won the 2019 legislative election without a majority with 47 MPs, followed by Madem-G15 with 27 seats, PRS with 21 MPs, APU-PDGB with five MPs and New Democracy (PND) in fourth place. and UM, one substitute each.

Despite winning the election, the PAIGC ceased to be in government in 2020 after the President fired Prime Minister Aristide Gomes and formed an executive body with elements from Madem-G15, PRS and APU-PDGB. Ultimately, this government’s program will later be approved by Parliament with the votes of these parties and with the support of five dissident MPs from the PAIGC.

There are 893,618 registered voters in this election, of which 17,922 are in the diaspora in Africa and 17,894 in Europe, including 7,789 in Portugal.

According to the National Electoral Commission (NEC), polling stations open at 07:00 local time (08:00 in Lisbon) and close at 17:00 (18:00 in Lisbon) for a total of 3,524 polling stations, of which 55 Africa and 57 in Europe.

In total, according to CNE, there are about 200 observers in the country, namely 60 from the short-term mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by former President of Cape Verde Jorge Carlos Fonseca, in addition to 15 already in place, 29 from the African Union led by the former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, while the 27-member Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) mission is led by Alberto Carlos, former Deputy Minister of Business for Timorese Foreigners.