The Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) will “definitely” decide this Friday where the next summit of heads of state and government will take place, the organization’s executive secretary said.
Speaking to Lusa about the meeting, scheduled for July 19 in Sao Tome and Principe, Zacarias da Costa said he hoped “in principle” that it would take place in Bissau, since the last summit had established that the next president would be from Guinea-Bissau, but that it would be at this meeting that the heads of diplomacy would have to “put in black and white on paper” where it would take place.
“The date will not be announced, but we will certainly need to be sure where the next ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers will take place, which will take place (…) at the same time as the summit,” Zacarias da Costa said. Costa asked if there was any doubt that it would take place in Guinea-Bissau.
“I assume that the decision has already been taken and that it will be taken in Guinea-Bissau, unless member states think otherwise,” he said.
The meeting on Friday is “long-awaited,” the CPLP executive secretary said, especially because it comes almost a year before the next president is expected to take over from the current presidency of Sao Tome and Principe.
At the 14th Summit of Heads of State and Government, it was decided that Guinea-Bissau will assume the next presidency of the CPLP for the period 2025-2027, succeeding Sao Tome and Principe, the country that currently chairs the organization for two years.
The summits of heads of state and government are held in the country that will take over the rotating presidency of the CPLP.
On October 25, 2023, during a visit to Portugal, the President of Guinea-Bissau announced at the headquarters of the Organization of Portuguese-Speaking Countries in Lisbon that the country is ready to accept the presidency in 2025.
“Guinea-Bissau is ready to accept the post of president [da CPLP] “from 2025,” the head of the Guinean state said during the visit.
Sissoko Embalo stressed that his country “sets goals” for the organization that are part of the “overall goal of strengthening” the community “not only in terms of free movement” but also “culture.”
The political situation in Guinea-Bissau has since changed following the president’s decision in December to dissolve the parliament elected in June due to a serious institutional crisis in the country and an attempted coup.
The government parties elected at the time challenged Sissoko Embalo’s decision, which they considered illegal in light of Article 94 of the Constitution of Guinea-Bissau, which prohibits the dissolution of parliament before 12 months have passed.
Last week, Houmaro Sissoko Embalo announced he would call early legislative elections for November 24.
Various political forces argue that the elections, due to be called later this year, are presidential and not legislative, arguing that the president’s term ends in February 2025 and the choice of a new head of state must be made in advance.
Umaro Sissoko Embalo rejects these demands and claims that presidential elections should not take place until the end of 2025.
The member states of the CPLP are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea and Timor-Leste.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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