The stage is all set for a successful and smooth presidential election in Guinea-Bissau, said the UN’s representative, Rosine Sori-Coulibaly, who expressed hope that Sunday’s vote will help banish the country’s political and institutional crises.
By Nouah Mancaly
“Our hope is that the November 24 presidential election put an end to this cycle of political and institutional instability (…) that everything goes smoothly, before and after the ballot,” Rosine Sori-Coulibaly told reporters in Bissau earlier this week.
She was pleased that the 12 candidates vying for the presidency, including incumbent president José Mario Vaz, were able to hit the campaign trail and freely interact with the people whom, she said have been mobilized for the civic exercise.
The UN Representative emphasised that the international community expects a smooth election of the subsequent winner whose government will be expected “to tackle the problems of the people and encourage partners to help” Guinea-Bissau.
It is quite possible to arrive at such a scenario, she added, giving the example of the legislative elections in March, the smooth holding of which facilitated the setting up of the National Assembly.
Rosine Sori-Coulibaly warned, however, that if Sunday’s vote took a different turn, the international community would not sit idly by and watch the country sink to the abyss of a political quagmire.
She warned that sanctions would be imposed “should the political crisis continued in the country after the presidential election.”
These threats are not new, as the UN Security Council recently warned “all those who destroy the stability” in Guinea-Bissau and called on political actors to “behave responsibly.”
The country is recovering from a political crisis stemming from the dismissal of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes and his government by President Vaz.
Vaz appointed Faustino Imbali as Prime Minister, but the latter, in the face of disaproval from the international community, resigned, leaving the president to deal with his predecessor Gomes.
The sacked PM had defied Vaz for sacking him, insisting that the president does not have the legitimacy to dismiss him.
It is in this climate that the presidential election will be held on Sunday, with more than 760,000 people registered to vote.
The election will be overseen by 23 observers from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), 60 from the African Union, 60 from ECOWAS and 47 from the United States.
NM/cat/fss/as/APA