Soldiers in Guinea Bissau have announced a new military leader. This move makes their takeover of power official. It all started right after a very close presidential election. The main opposition candidate says the military stepped in only to stop him from becoming president.
General Horta Inta A has now been sworn in as the head of the military government. State TV said he will lead the country for a one year transition period. Guinea Bissau is a very poor country and has seen many coups since it became independent from Portugal more than 50 years ago. There was even another attempt in October. The country of 2.2 million people is also known for drug trafficking routes from Latin America to Europe. Experts say this has made the political situation even worse.
General Inta A said politicians failed to control the deep political tension, so the army decided to step in. He was the army chief of staff before the coup and a close ally of the now removed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo. No one knows where Embalo is at the moment. A day earlier he told French media that soldiers arrested him while gunfire was heard near the presidential palace.
The African Union strongly condemned the coup. They demanded Embalo’s release and asked the military to respect the election process. South Africa and France also criticised the takeover and called for democracy to be restored quickly.
The opposition says something very different. They claim Embalo arranged the whole thing himself because he did not want to accept losing Sunday’s close election. Fernando Dias, his main rival, said the military takeover was fake and only meant to stop the official election results from being released. The Associated Press could not confirm Dias’s claims. Dias’s party and another major opposition party asked people to protest and demand that election results be published. But on Thursday morning the capital looked normal. Shops and buses were working as usual.
This coup adds to the growing number of military takeovers in West Africa. Many of these are linked to disputed elections and weak democratic institutions. Analysts say Guinea Bissau’s problems have built up over years. Under Embalo the parliament was shut down without agreement. The courts were weak. Many people felt politicians were influencing everything for personal gain.
Gunfire was heard in Bissau on Wednesday, only days after the vote. Embalo and Dias both declared themselves winners. Later, soldiers appeared on state TV saying they had removed the president. They claimed the election commission office had been sealed. Dias posted a video saying he escaped soldiers through a back door after reports he was arrested. He promised to resist, saying Embalo did not want to accept losing.
The military said they removed the president after finding a plan to change the election results. A spokesperson said this plan involved national politicians, a major drug trafficker and both local and foreign people.