Guinea Bissau

Rosine Sori-Coulibaly updated ambassadors on developments in the wake of the November 2019 presidential election and subsequent run-off, won by ex-army general Umaro Sissoco Embaló, a former Prime Minister and candidate for the Movement for Democratic Change (MADEM-G15).

Guinea-Bissau’s national electoral commission confirmed former Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo as winner of the presidential ballot on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court threw the result into doubt last week.

Former Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo has been elected president after winning a run-off vote against another ex-prime minister.

Guinea-Bissau voters go to the polls for a second round of voting in December to decide on their next president. Results of the first round show that no candidate garnered the 50 percent needed to win outright.

Elections are less than a week away in Guinea Bissau, where residents are hoping to emerge from years of political stagnation. … President Jose Mario Vaz is the first democratically-elected president in Guinea-Bissau's history to finish his term.

Guinea-Bissau’s newly appointed Prime Minister Faustino Fudut Imbali handed in his resignation on Friday after an ultimatum was given by West African regional bloc ECOWAS, the president said.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday joined regional voices calling for restraint and dialogue to end the latest political crisis in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau. Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz triggered the latest escalation in an ongoing power struggle with the ruling PAIGC (African Party of the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) party, of which he was once a member.

Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named a new prime minister on Tuesday but his sacked predecessor refused to step down, intensifying a bitter power struggle between Vaz and the ruling party weeks ahead of a presidential election.

Since the inauguration of Guinea-Bissau’s new Government in July, the political arena has been dominated by preparation for presidential elections, the assistant chief for UN peacekeeping operations in Africa told the Security Council on Tuesday, briefing members on the state of the nation, and the UN peacebuilding office there (UNIOGBIS).

Guinea Bissau has been plunged into a power vacuum after the president's term ended on Sunday without a government in place despite the naming of Aristides Gomes as prime minister. President José Mário Vaz is now blackmailing Parliament to extend his reign until November 24 when elections are scheduled in exchange for him approving a new government to run the country.