Guinea-Bissau’s National Electoral Commission on Wednesday confirmed former Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo as the winner of a December presidential run-off vote, reported Reuters.
The confirmation comes after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal made last week by the ruling party candidate, Domingos Simoes Pereira, who had challenged the result in court with fraud allegations. The runner-up and ruling party candidate Pereira got the lead in the first round of voting in November, but he lost in the second round to Embalo.
“The Supreme Court ruling has been scrupulously followed,” the commission said in a statement, adding “all that remains to do is follow the swearing-in procedure.”
According to the final results released by the electoral commission, opposition candidate Embalo won the December run-off ballot with 54% of the vote while Pereira garnered 46% of the vote.
During the election campaign period, Embalo got the support of several opposition figures. He also got the backing of outgoing president Jose Mario Vaz, who was removed from the Presidential race in the first round as he garnered just 12 percent of the votes.
Guinea-Bissau witnessed multiple coup attempts since independence from Portugal in 1973, four of which were successful. Vaz is the first president of Guinea-Bissau in 25 years to have finished his term without being ousted in a military coup. His tenure was marred by widespread allegations of corruption, political infighting, and an ill-functioning parliament. Both Embalo and Pereira served as prime ministers during former President Vaz’s five-year term.
During his election campaign, Embalo vowed to modernize Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest nations, which is home to some 1.6 million people.
As the new President, Embalo will face some big challenges including poverty and drug trafficking, and an unstable political system in which the parliament can appoint the prime minister, but the president can fire the appointee.
