Political parties that support the government of Guinea-Bissau recently formed by President José Mário Vaz and led by Pm Faustino Fudut Imbali, have sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, asking for the Representative of the ECOWAS Commission to leave the country immediately, accusing him of meddling in Guinea Bissau’s internal affairs and supporting “the government” of Aristides Gomes.
In a press release published Wednesday to the social communication organs, the Movement for Democratic Change (MADEM-G15), the Social Renewal Party (PRS) and the Democratic Party of the Assembly of the Democratic United People of Guinea-Bissau (APU-PDGB) said they were “surprised by the ECOWAS Representative’s blatant interference in the nation’s sovereignty,” for “intervening for the interests of one of the parties involved.”
ECOWAS, as stated in the letter to António Guterres, “was invited to play a mediating role in the political crisis resulting from the blockade and the abusive closure of the Parliament of Guinea-Bissau” in 2012.
However, for these political parties, the West African bloc “was not requested to make a decision, on behalf of the people of Guinea-Bissau, to suspend the application of the country’s laws, to interfere or define the organization of a sovereign state.”
“This is the reason why political parties representing the majority in parliament reject this mediation and call for the immediate withdrawal of ECOWAS from mediation in Guinea-Bissau,” these political parties stress.
In the letter to Guterres, they add that ECOWAS violates “the fundamental precepts of good mediation” and “the principle of Guinea-Bissau’s sovereignty.”
The government headed by Faustino Imbali is composed of MADEM-G15, which has seven ministries and five secretariats, PRS, with five ministries and six secretariats, and APU-PDGB with three ministerial portfolios and two secretariats.
The government consists of 17 ministries and 14 secretariats, with 24 men and seven women.
NM/Dng/fss/Dng/APA