Guinea-Bissau - 2014 Elections
Guinea-Bissau is a multi-party republic. It is ruled by a democratically elected government led by President Jose Mario Vaz of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), who took office on June 23 after an election judged to be free and fair by international observers. Vaz replaced a transitional president, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, who led a government brokered in 2012 by the Economic Community of West African States in the wake of a military coup that disrupted an electoral process before the second round of voting. The new government was consolidating its authority over the security forces, including dismissing the long-time chief of staff, Antonio Indjai, who was a force behind the 2012 coup.
Serious human rights abuses included arbitrary detention; official corruption exacerbated by government officials’ impunity and suspected involvement in drug trafficking; and violence and discrimination against women and children. Other human rights abuses included poor conditions of detention; lack of judicial independence and due process; interference with privacy; female genital mutilation/cutting; trafficking in persons; and child labor, including some forced labor. The government did not take effective steps to prosecute or punish officials or other individuals who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government. Impunity was a serious problem.
Police were generally ineffective, poorly and irregularly paid, and corrupt. They could not afford fuel for the few vehicles they had and received no training. Transit police often demanded bribes from vehicle drivers, whether or not their documents and vehicles were in order. Lack of police detention facilities frequently resulted in prisoners walking out of custody during investigations.
The constitution and law provide citizens with the ability to change their government through free and fair elections, and in June citizens exercised this right through elections based on universal suffrage. In the past citizens’ ability to exercise this right was often impeded by military intervention--as with the 2012 coup--and by corruption and bribery within political parties.
The June elections and the subsequent transition to a democratically elected government under President Jose Mario Vaz and Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira marked a return to rule of law. With strong support from the United Nations, the elections were considered by international observers to be free and fair with no credible indications of voter fraud. PAIGC candidate Vaz won a runoff with a decisive majority; the PAIGC also won a majority of seats in the National Assembly.
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) won the first parliamentary elections since the 2012 coup. It took 57 seats in the 102-member People's National Assembly while the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) took 41. Prior to the 2014 elections, the PAIGC elected Mr. Domingos Simões Pereira as its Chairman and candidate for prime minister, and Mr. Jose Mario Vaz - former Finance Minister before the 2012 coup - as its presidential candidate. Mr. Vaz promised to create jobs and revive the economy.
The PRS endorsed Mr. Abel Incada as its presidential candidate. However, the PRS leader and former President, Mr. Kumba Yala, backed Mr. Nuno Gomes Nabiam, a former PRS member who ran as an independent. Mr. Nabiam, who also had support from the army, promised to consolidate peace, national unity, democracy and development. Mr. Yala's death on 4 April briefly suspended the election campaign but presidential and parliamentary polls went ahead on 13 April. None of the 13 presidential candidates secured an absolute majority to be elected in the first round. In the run-off presidential elections held on 18 May, Mr. Vaz defeated Mr. Nabiam.
The country had been in transition since the 2012 coup, which occurred between two rounds of presidential elections. The coup leaders suspended the Constitution, dissolved the People's National Assembly and detained Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior (PAIGC) and the acting President and former Speaker Raimundo Pereira (PAIGC), who were both released in late April that year.
In accordance with a transition pact brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in May 2012, the People's National Assembly was reinstated and Mr. Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo (PAIGC) became Acting President of the Republic. The parliamentary term - which was due to end in November 2012 was extended until the new parliamentary and presidential elections. These were initially expected by May 2013 but were postponed several times to April 2014, due mainly to lack of funds and logistical problems.
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