By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Guinea-Bissau’s military-led government has adopted a 12-month transitional charter which disqualifies the interim leader and the Prime Minister from contesting in the country’s next elections, a development that comes weeks after a group of soldiers staged a coup that ousted a democratically installed government.
The 29-article charter, published on Tuesday, requires presidential and legislative elections to hold at a date not later than one year transitional period.
Army officers in Guinea-Bissau, who called themselves the Military High Command, deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26, installing Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim President a day after.
Also, Ilidio Vieira Te, a civil servant and former finance minister, was named Prime Minister. Under the new charter, the two officials are not qualified to vie for election.
The coup which some election observers claimed was “staged” came one day before the electoral body was due to announce the results of presidential and legislative elections.
According to the charter, while the transition period lasts, the Military High Command will preside over legal and institutional reforms, including drafting revisions to the suspended constitution, setting up a new Constitutional Court, changing regulations for political parties and overseeing the appointment of new electoral officials.
A 65-member National Transition Council, including 10 senior army officers representing the Military High Command, will serve as a transitional legislative body, the charter added.
The coup has however raised controversy as the ousted President Embalo was alleged to have been complicit. A former Nigerian leader, Goodluck Jonathan who led ECOWAS-backed observation team alleged that the coup was staged over fear that the incumbent Embalo might lose the poll.
Embaló and the opposition candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa claimed victory.
Guinea-Bissau, a small West African coastal nation wedged between Senegal and Guinea, has experienced repeated instability since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, with only one president ever completing a full term in office.
