Guinea-Bissau: Who Is In Charge?

GUINEA-BISSAU

Who’s In Charge?

Guinea-Bissau is arguably a “narco state,” a country where drug money has corrupted every nook and cranny of the government, the economy and society.

Police recently seized 1.8 tons of cocaine from smugglers, for example. It was the second time in six months they had broken their record for the biggest drug haul in the West African country’s history, InSight Crime reported.

Not coincidentally, nobody is really in charge of Guinea-Bissau.

Voters went to the polls on Nov. 24 to elect a new president, and preliminary results are expected in a few days. But, given widespread graft and the multiple coups the nation has suffered since independence from Portugal in 1974, many wonder whether the country will successfully pull off a democratic transition.

Jose Mario Vaz, the country’s first democratically elected president to complete a five-year term since the introduction of multi-party elections in 1994, is running for re-election. “Corruption was installed at the highest level,” a Vaz spokesman told Voice of America. “Drug trafficking, with collaboration of a lot of people, was installed at the highest level, we needed to fight that. We needed to make reforms, but reforms are not easy.”

Voters have reason to be suspicious of Vaz’s lofty aims, however.

As University of Central Florida scholars Clayton Besaw and Jonathan Powell explained in the Conversation, the president’s term technically ended in June, but Vaz remained in office. At the time, he was in conflict with his political allies for refusing to support their nominee for prime minister, Domingos Simoes Pereira. Vaz then struck a deal with lawmakers to remain in office – though with limited powers – until the presidential election this month in exchange for approving another premier, Aristide Gomes.

In October, however, after violent protests and warnings from Gomes about a possible coup, Vaz sacked Gomes and appointed a new prime minister, Faustino Fudut Imbali, reported the South Africa-based Independent Online. The coup warnings especially stirred up fears, given how the military has repeatedly entered politics. But Gomes refused to accept the sacking, Al Jazeera wrote. Imbali, meanwhile, resigned after 11 days.

The changes led the African Union to issue a statement expressing “deep concern over the continued deterioration of the political and security situation” in the country.

Guinea-Bissau’s military has denied any interest in a coup. However, the generals have also rejected the Economic Community of West African States’ proposal to increase its military contingent in the country as a stabilization measure, wrote Political Analysis South Africa.

The organization helped The Gambia a few years ago when another leader refused to leave after losing an election.

Regardless, the electoral process must go on if Guinea-Bissau is to move forward. But politicians will need to respect the process – and each other – for the results to hold. And the military must stay out of the way.

And then, maybe, everyone will know who is actually in charge.

W