Guinea-Bissau’s outgoing President Jose Mario Vaz said he was happy that he was leaving behind a stable country in his new year’s address on Tuesday, reported Yahoo News.
“We will write a new page in the history of our democracy,” Vaz said during his televised speech on the last day of 2019, referring to the handover of power.
Vaz’s tenure as the president, which began in 2014, is due to end shortly. His five-year term was marred by regular political sackings, an ill-functioning parliament, and high-level corruption. He lost the first-round vote to front-runners Domingos Simoes Pereira and Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who both were his former Prime Ministers. The two contenders competed in Sunday’s run-off to replace Vaz.
“No matter where I am, whether in Bissau, in my village, in my office, or in my rice field, every citizen, every leader and all those who believe in Guinea-Bissau, can always count on me, on my fraternal solidarity,” Vaz said. “I wish all Guineans a happy new year. Long live Guinea-Bissau! May God bless Guinea-Bissau and its people.”
The president also urged the people of the country to maintain calm while waiting for the definitive results and also hailed the army for keeping out of politics during his time in office.
Guinea Bissau’s electoral commission is due to announce the results of the second round of the country’s presidential election on Wednesday.
But, even before the official voting results, the former army general and ex-Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo on Monday declared that he was on course to win the presidential election. His campaign spokesman Djibril Balde said the victory claim was based on campaign tallies of preliminary results its observers had compiled in each region.
Embalo’s opponent Domingos Simoes Pereira, however, urged the people to await official voting results.
