Opposition Coalition Victorious In Guinea-Bissau Vote

An opposition coalition in Guinea-Bissau has won an overall majority in parliament following elections on Sunday.

This means President Umaro Sissoco Embaló will have to share power with a prime minister nominated by the PAI-Terra Ranka coalition, which includes the former ruling PAIGC party.

The coalition won 54 out of 102 seats, with Mr Embaló’s Madem-G15 party taking 29, according to the electoral commission.

A crowd gathered outside the PAIGC’s headquarters in the capital, Bissau, when the results were announced, with many banging saucepans to express their joy, the AFP news agency reports.

For years the small West African nation has undergone political turmoil and numerous coups and coup plots.

It has also been a key transit point in the trafficking of illegal drugs from Latin America.

Mr Embaló – whose party broke away from the PAIGC – won presidential elections in December 2019 and last year survived a coup attempt.

Source: BBC