Bissau-Guineans went to the polls once again on Sunday in a second round vote with many things at stake among them ending the political instability that has rocked the country for over 40 years.
By Ngagne Diouf
Polling stations across the country are open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for some 700,000 people registered to take part in the exercise.
The run-off pits two former prime ministers, Domingos Simoes Pereira, a candidate of the traditional African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the standard-bearer of MADEM, a splinter of the PAIGC.
Perira, 56, polled 40.13 percent in the first round on November 24 ahead of his run-off rival Embalo, 47, who collected 27.65 percent of the ballot.
Through the course of an uneventful 15-day electoral campaign, the two run-off candidates promised to reduce poverty and tackle corruption as a means of reviving Guinea Bissau’s sluggish economy.
Nestled in sixth place out of 12 candidates in the first round, the incumbent Jose Mario Vaz failed in his reelection bid, effectively out of reckoning for the run-off.
DNG/GT/as/APA