A regional bloc of West African nations recognized Umaro Sissoco Embalo as president of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday, after four months of dispute over the election results, reported VOA News.
According to the electoral authority of Guinea-Bissau, Embalo won a run-off presidential vote in December. He won 53.55% of the votes in December 2019 election. His rival Domingos Simoes Pereira, the presidential candidate from Guinea-Bissau’s ruling party, the PAIGC, won 46.45% of the votes, the number that he has denounced as a fraud.
While the election observers found no evidence of any kind of vote tampering in the run-off election, Pereira claimed the voting results were full of irregularities, annulment, and manipulation.
Pereira got the lead in the first round of voting in November, but he lost to Embalo in the second and final round of voting. After the results were announced, the losing candidate called the election fraudulent and took the case to the Supreme Court, which has not yet ruled.
Both Embalo and Pereira served as prime ministers during former President President Jose Mario Vaz’s five-year term. Vaz was eliminated in the first round of voting.
Embalo, on the other hand, declared himself president in February without waiting for the court, creating a political impasse.
On Thursday, the heads of state of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said in a statement that they recognized Embalo as the president of Guinea-Bissau but also called for constitutional reform to be put to a referendum within six months.
“In the face of the persistence of this blockage and after an in-depth analysis of the country’s political situation, the ECOWAS heads of state and government decided to recognise the victory of Mr. Umaro Sissoco Emablo,” the statement said.
Guinea-Bissau has been facing coups and instability since its independence from Portugal in 1974. The country has also long struggled with poverty and corruption.
