Guinea-Bissau presidential election, 2012

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Guinea-Bissau presidential election, 2012
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Nominee Carlos Gomes Júnior Kumba Ialá
Party PAIGC PRS
Popular vote 154,797 73,842
Percentage 48.97% 23.36%
Guinea-Bissau
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This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Guinea-Bissau

Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 18 March 2012 following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanhá on 9 January. A run-off was set to be held on 29 April after being postponed by a week as announced by electoral commission chief Desejado Lima Dacosta. [1] [2] However, after a military coup, the leading candidates were arrested and the election was cancelled. The junta's spokesman then announced plans to hold an election in two years, despite condemnation. [3] General elections were subsequently held in April 2014.

Guinea-Bissau country in Western Africa

Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 1,815,698.

Malam Bacai Sanhá President of Guinea-Bissau

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. the first or maternal family name is Bacai and the second or paternal family name is Sanhá.

2012 Guinea-Bissau coup détat coup détat

On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá. The coup started in the evening with military personnel and equipment making its way onto the streets, followed by the state-owned media being taken off-air.

Contents

Background

Following the death of Malam Bacai Sanhá on 9 January 2012, an early presidential elections were scheduled to be held within 90 days, in accordance with the constitution. [4]

Constitution of Guinea-Bissau

The Constitution of Guinea-Bissau is the basic law governing Guinea-Bissau. It was adopted in 1984, came into force on 6 May 1984, and revised in 1991, 1993 and 1996.

No president in the history of independent Guinea-Bissau has completed his term in office: Three presidents have been ousted, one was assassinated, and another died in office. [5]

João Bernardo Vieira Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau

João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1984, for the second time from 1984 to 1999, and for the third time from 2005 to 2009. After seizing power in 1980, Vieira ruled for 19 years, and he won a multiparty presidential election in 1994. He was ousted at the end of the 1998–1999 civil war and went into exile. He made a political comeback in 2005, winning that year's presidential election. Vieira was killed by soldiers on 2 March 2009, apparently in retaliation for a bomb blast that killed Guinea-Bissau's military chief General Batista Tagme Na Waie. The military officially denied these allegations after Army officials claimed responsibility for Vieira's death.

Campaign

Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior resigned on 10 February to run for the presidency. [6] A total of nine candidates contested the elections, [7] five of whom ran in the previous elections in 2009. Their campaign literature was said to be "largely recycled." Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá were said to be the frontrunners in the election. [8]

Carlos Gomes Júnior Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau

Carlos Domingos Gomes Júnior is a Guinea-Bissauan politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 10 May 2004 to 2 November 2005, and again from 25 December 2008 to 10 February 2012. He has been the President of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) since 2002 and is widely known as "Cadogo". He resigned as prime minister on 10 February 2012 to run in the presidential election triggered by President Malam Bacai Sanhá's death on 9 January.

Ialá's support base was primarily based on his Balanta ethnic group. Gomes Júnior had indicated he wanted to reform the armed forces, with which he had a tense relationship. [8]

Balanta people ethnic group

The Balanta are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, representing more than one-quarter of the population. Despite their numbers, they have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organisation. The Balanta can be divided into four subgroups, three of which are Balanta Kentohe, Balanta Ganja and Balanta Brassa, the largest of which are the Balanta Brassa.

Campaigning for the second round was due to start on 13 April and end on 27 April. [2]

Conduct

UNIOGBIS spokesman Vladimir Monteiro said: "The election was held in a very peaceful manner. In the morning, participation was relatively weak but, all day long, leaders of the electoral body encouraged the people to go and vote, and it seems that people listened and went to vote because the participation finally increased." He also added that the election commission is mandated by the constitution to release the result within 10 days of the election. [9] However, the same night fears of military-linked violence increased with the assassination of the former head of military intelligence, Colonel Samba Diallo, just before midnight at a bar in the national capital of Bissau. The Guardian reported witnesses as saying that soldiers had fired at him and then taken his body away, possibly to a hospital. [10]

Results

No candidate was able to attain a 50% majority in the first round. The leading two candidates, Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá were set to face each other in a runoff election to be held on 22 April.

Five of the first round candidates complained that the poll had been fraudulent despite independent, international observers stating that it was conducted fairly. [11]

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Carlos Gomes Júnior African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde 154,79748.97
Mohamed Ialá Embaló Party for Social Renewal 73,84223.36
Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo Independent 49,76715.74
Henrique Pereira Rosa Independent 17,0705.40
Baciro Djá Independent 10,2983.26
Vicente Fernandes Democratic Alliance 4,3961.39
Aregado Mantenque Té Workers' Party 3,3001.04
Serifo BaldéGuinean Salvation Democratic Socialist Party – Young Party1,4630.46
Luís Nancassa Independent 1,1740.37
Invalid/blank votes10,292––
Total326,399100
Registered voters/turnout593,76555.0
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

Despite a peaceful campaign, there were fears of possible violence or a coup d'état if the army did not approve of the winner. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a "peaceful, orderly and transparent" election. [5] Opposition leaders, led by Ialá, called for a boycott of the second round because they considered the election fraudulent, [12] with Ialá calling for new voter registration to take place and warned against campaigning. [13] [14]

The Director General of the Judicial Police Joao Biague announced that the former head of intelligence, Samba Diallo, was assassinated shortly after the polls closed. [15] On 12 April, elements within the factionalised army staged a coup d'état, leading to the arrest of both second round candidates, amongst others, by the Military Command and calls for a national unity government.

Related Research Articles

Guinea-Bissau was dominated by Portugal from the 1450s to the 1970s; since independence, the country has been primarily controlled by a single-party system.

Politics of Guinea-Bissau

Politics of Guinea-Bissau takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic in transition, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National People's Assembly.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Artur and the second or paternal family name is Sanhá.

Kumba Ialá Guinea-Bissau politician

Kumba Ialá Embaló, also spelled Yalá, was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was president from 17 February 2000 until he was deposed in a bloodless military coup on 14 September 2003. He belonged to the Balanta ethnic group and was President of the Social Renewal Party (PRS). In 2008 he converted to Islam and took the name Mohamed Ialá Embaló. He was the founder of the Party for Social Renewal. In 2014, Ialá died from a cardiopulmonary arrest.

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde political party

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. Towards the end of the war, the party established a Marxist–Leninist one-party state, which remained intact until multi-party democracy was introduced in the early 1990s. Although the party won the first multi-party elections in 1994, it was removed from power in the 1999–2000 elections. However, it returned to office after winning parliamentary elections in 2004 and presidential elections in 2005, since which it has remained the largest party in the National People's Assembly.

Elections in Guinea-Bissau

Elections in Guinea-Bissau take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a semi-presidential system. Both the President and the National People's Assembly are directly elected by voters.

2005 Guinea-Bissau presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 19 June 2005, with a second round runoff on 24 July. The elections marked the end of a transition to democratic rule after the previously elected government was overthrown in a September 2003 military coup led by General Veríssimo Correia Seabra. The result was a victory for former President and independent candidate João Bernardo Vieira.

The Party for Social Renewal is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. It is one of the country's leading parties and is currently the main opposition party.

Ansumane Mané was a Bissau-Guinean soldier who led a 1998 uprising against the government of President João Bernardo Vieira, which caused a brief, but bloody civil war.

Manuel Saturnino da Costa is a Guinea-Bissau politician who served as Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 26 October 1994 to 6 June 1997.

Raimundo Pereira President of Guinea-Bissau

Raimundo Pereira is a Guinea-Bissauan lawyer and politician who was interim President of Guinea-Bissau from 3 March 2009 to 8 September 2009 and again in 2012, following the departure of President Malam Bacai Sanhá for medical treatment abroad; he continued in that capacity after Sanha's death. Pereira was elected as President of the National People's Assembly on 22 December 2008. Pereira is a member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). He was ousted in a coup on 12 April 2012 and succeeded by Mamadu Ture Kuruma.

2009 Guinea-Bissau presidential election election

Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 28 June 2009 following the assassination of President João Bernardo Vieira on 2 March 2009. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a second round was held on 26 July 2009 between the two leading candidates, Malam Bacai Sanhá of the governing African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and opposition leader Kumba Ialá. Sanhá won with a substantial majority in the second round, according to official results.

1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election

General elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 28 November 1999, with a second round for the presidential election on 16 January 2000. The presidential election resulted in a victory for opposition leader Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), who defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde. The PRS were also victorious in the National People's Assembly election, winning 38 of the 102 seats.

2014 Guinea-Bissau general election

General elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 13 April 2014, with a second round for the presidential elections held on 18 May since no candidate received a majority in the first round. Several logistic problems and delays caused the elections to be repeatedly postponed, having initially been scheduled for 24 November 2013 and then 16 March 2014. In the second round, José Mário Vaz of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde was declared the president-elect with 62% of the vote.

José Mário Vaz Guinean politician

José Mário Gómes Vaz is the President of Guinea-Bissau, in office since 23 June 2014.

Francisca Maria Monteira e Silva Vaz Turpin, better known as Zinha Vaz, is a Bissau-Guinean women's rights activist and politician. She has been a member of the National People's Assembly for several terms for the Resistance of Guinea-Bissau-Bafatá Movement, as well as a presidential advisor. In 1999 she served for a brief time as mayor of the capital city Bissau. She was jailed for political reasons for three years during the 1970s and in 2003 again for several days. Recently she was ambassador to Gambia.

The following lists events that happened during 2012 in Guinea-Bissau.

References

  1. ↑ "Africa Review – Guinea Bissau presidential run off vote delayed to 29 April". Africareview.com. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 "AFP: Guinea-Bissau second round vote delayed to 29 April". Google. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "Bissau government to review Angola Bauxite deal, calls it unfair". Reuters. 23 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "AFP: Guinea-Bissau leader Malam Bacai Sanha dies in Paris". Google. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  5. 1 2 Location Settings (16 March 2012). "Guinea-Bissau wraps up poll campaign". News24. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  6. ↑ UN Mission Pleased With Peaceful Election in Guinea Bissau VOA News, 17 March 2012
  7. ↑ Elections in Guinea Bissau African Elections Database
  8. 1 2 "Guinea-Bissau counts presidential poll votes – Africa". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  9. ↑ Peter Clottey (18 March 2012). "UN Mission Pleased With Peaceful Election in Guinea Bissau". Voanews.com. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Afua Hirsch, west Africa correspondent, and agencies (18 March 2012). "Guinea-Bissau votes to elect president but military overthrow feared | World news". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "BBC News – Guinea-Bissau set for presidential run-off". BBC. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  12. ↑ Guinea-Bissau candidate says won't do vote runoff Associated Press, 22 March 2012
  13. ↑ "BBC News – Kumba Yala boycotts Guinea-Bissau presidential run-off". BBC. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "Guinea-Bissau: Soldiers arrest Prime Minister in apparent coup bid". GlobalPost. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "Guinea-Bissau poll marred by killing". M.news24.com. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
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