In a recent political development in Guinea-Bissau, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo took a bold step by dissolving Parliament. This action follows violent clashes that recently occurred in the capital, Bissau, described by the president as an attempted coup d’état. President Embalo convened a meeting of the Council of State at the presidential palace, bringing together the main representatives of the country’s political and judicial institutions, as well as the leaders of political parties.
The dissolution of Parliament was widely expected given the tensions and political divisions that existed between the president and the opposition since last summer’s legislative elections. The traumatic event of last week’s coup attempt, triggered by the interrogation of two opposition ministers by police, exacerbated these tensions and led President Embalo to take drastic measures.
However, this dissolution is not without controversy. The President of the National Assembly, Domingos Simoes Pereira, declared that this decision was illegitimate, because the Constitution prohibits the dissolution of Parliament before six months of exercise, while the current Assembly has only three months of existence . This divergence in constitutional interpretation creates a real political standoff between the president and the opposition.
President Embalo, for his part, does not seem to care about these objections and immediately redistributed positions within his cohabitation government. He even took over the portfolios of Defense and Interior, while the Prime Minister, Geraldo Martins, kept that of Finance. This attempt to reorganize the government is perhaps aimed at strengthening the president’s position against the opposition.
The next step announced by President Embalo is the organization of new legislative elections with the aim of restoring stability and balance between the legislative and executive powers. The date of these elections will be fixed later, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. President Embalo justifies this decision by the alleged complicity between the National Guard and certain political interests within the state apparatus, which would have made the normal functioning of the institutions of the Republic impossible.
This dissolution of Parliament in Guinea-Bissau and the call for new legislative elections raise many questions about the political future of the country. The priority at the moment is to restore citizen confidence and promote constructive dialogue between the different political actors. The impact of these events will be decisive for the future of democracy in Guinea-Bissau.