Next Sunday’s presidential poll in Guinea Bissau is intended to end years of instability.
Some 750,000 voters out of Guinea Bissau’s population of 1.47 million go to the polls this Sunday, April 13, 2014, to choose a new Parliament and Head of State. A total of 15 parties are running for Parliament while 13 candidates are seeking to replace Interim President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.
A former Speaker of Parliament, Nhamadjo took over in the wake of the April 12, 2012 coup by the military. Believed to have been led by Army Chief, Gen. Antonio Indjai, the coup interrupted a scheduled second round presidential election.
The presidential contenders are José Mario Vaz of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, Abel Incada of the Social Renewal Party and Antonio Afonso Té of the Republican Party for Independence and Development.
Others are Iaia Djalo of the New Democrats Party, Cirilo Rodrigues de Oliveira of the Socialist Party, Ibraima Sory Djaló of the National Reconciliation Party and Arégado Mantenque Té of the Labour Party.
The independent candidates are Paulo Gomes, Hélder Vaz Lopes, Nuno Gomes Na Bian, Domingos Quade, George Malú and Luis Nancassa. Though there are no reliable opinion polls, the leading candidates are believed to be José Mario Vaz, Abel Incada, Paulo Gomes and Antonio Afonso Té.
Most candidates have signed a manifesto pledging to reduce mortality for children under five and fight endemic malnutrition among children as well as HIV AIDS. Similarly, candidates also committed to a code of good conduct during electioneering and voting.
José Mario Vaz
José Mario Vaz is running for the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, PAIGC that led the country to independence 40 years ago after a bitter war against the Portuguese.
PAIGC, the country’s largest party that has dominated national political life since independence, led in the first round of the April 2012 presidential election before the coup ended the dreams of its candidate, Carlos Gomes Junior. Gomes Junior has since been living in exile. Aged 51, Vaz is a former ECOWAS Ministers Council Chair, Finance Minister under Carlos Gomes Junior and Mayor of the capital, Bissau.
Abel Incada
Candidate of the country’s second largest party, the Social Renewal Party, PRS, Abel Incada was until recently, the First Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Bissau Services. Prior to this, he acted as the organisation’s chair. The PRS was founded 20 years ago by former President Kuma Iyalla who contested the aborted second round 2012 presidential poll. He died of heart attack on April 4, 2014 in Bissau at the age of 61.
Paulo Gomes
An independent, Paulo Gomes is not new to Guinea Bissau’s politics that has often been dominated by independence war veterans. Aged 50, the brilliant economist has spent most of his life abroad, notably with the World Bank, where he led the Sub-Saharan Africa section. He believes that his background can help the country get out of its financial woods. Guinea Bissau placed 177th out of 187 countries in the 2012 UN Human Development Index.
Antonio Afonso Té
Though standing for the Republican Party for Independence and Development, Antonio Afonso Té actually leads a coalition of 24 parties known as the Gb-Forum. The former Coordinator of Guinea Bissau Political Parties believes that no one party can restore confidence in the people after years of instability. Consequently, he says he is seeking an end to the cycle of crises by building peace and stability, ensuring a strong State capable of combating corruption, injustice, impunity and drug trafficking.
