The campaign for the presidential and legislative elections of November 23 in Guinea-Bissau opened on Saturday in the unprecedented absence of the historic party that led to independence, the PAIGC, and its candidate, Domingos Simoes Pereira, the main opponent of the current president.

The 860,000 voters in Guinea-Bissau will be called upon to choose between 12 candidates in the running for the presidential election, including the outgoing president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who is seeking a second term, and former president José Mario Vaz (2014-2020).

Fourteen parties, including a coalition, the Nô Kumpu Guiné platform which supports the candidacy of President Embalo, will compete for the 102 seats in Parliament.

Just hours before the start of the campaign, the army announced on Friday that it had thwarted an "attempt to subvert the constitutional order" and arrested several senior officers.

She did not specify the number of officers arrested or the actions prepared by these soldiers, several of whom are on the run, according to her.

For the first time since the independence of this Portuguese-speaking West African country in 1974, the PAIGC will not participate in the election.

Former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, a fierce opponent of Mr. Embalo, and the main opposition coalition comprising about ten political parties, including the PAIGC, will not be represented, having submitted their candidacy files too late.

Francisco Muniro Conte, spokesman for the PAIGC, denounced the "bad faith" of the Supreme Court which dismissed these cases, recalling that the party had won the last legislative elections in 2023.

Political stability is one of the major issues in this election, in a country that has experienced four coups d'état, 17 attempted putschs and a revolving door of governments since its independence from Portugal.

"No chaos will be tolerated," Mr. Embalo warned on Thursday.

"These elections will be an important step for the stability of our country," said Mpabi Cabi, president of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), two weeks ago.

The last presidential election in 2019, which pitted Umaro Sissoco Embalo against his rival Domingos Simoes Pereira, was highly contested.

Mr. Embalo's victory, validated by the Supreme Court, was finally recognized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), after four months of post-election deadlock and a power struggle between the two adversaries.

Today, the opposition led by Domingos Simoes Pereira considers that Mr. Embalo, who was sworn in on February 27, 2020 for a five-year term, is no longer the legitimate president of the country.

Instability and poverty have facilitated the establishment of drug traffickers in Guinea-Bissau, who use this territory as a transit zone for cocaine between Latin America and Europe.

AFP