Overview
- Gen. Horta Inta-a announced by decree that legislative and presidential polls will be held on December 6, saying conditions exist for free and fair voting.
- A transitional charter published in early December bars Inta-a from standing as a candidate in the planned elections.
- The November takeover removed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and installed Inta-a to lead a military government overseeing a one-year transition.
- An ECOWAS mission led by Sierra Leone’s Julius Maada Bio and Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye recently urged a shorter, structured timeline and demanded the release of political opponents, including Domingos Simoes Pereira.
- Guinea-Bissau’s announcement comes as the country grapples with chronic instability linked to drug trafficking and within a regional wave of coups since 2020.