Guinea-Bissau junta's 2-year timeframe
Source: Agencies |
April 20, 2012, Friday
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THE military junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau last week is proposing a two-year timeframe for organizing new elections, a lengthy process unlikely to appease the international community and regional mediators.
The accord was signed late on Wednesday without the participation of the country's ruling party, though a number of opposition parties backed it. They include the party of Kumba Yala, one of the two presidential candidates in a runoff vote that was derailed by the coup.
"This will allow us to peacefully organize voter registration in a biometric format, and to hold legislative and presidential elections simultaneously," said Artur Sanha, a spokesman for the political parties.
The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau following the coup, and the Economic Community Of West African States has sent mediators.
Guinea-Bissau was just weeks away from holding a presidential runoff election when soldiers attacked the front-runner's home and arrested him along with the interim president.
The military officials behind last week's coup claim that the front-runner, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr, had signed an agreement allowing troops from Angola to attack forces in Guinea-Bissau. Gomes' whereabouts are unknown.
Some analysts believe the men behind the coup were concerned about interference in the country's drug trade.
Traffickers from Latin America use the nation's archipelago of uninhabited islands to land small planes loaded with drugs, which are then parceled out and carried north for sale in Europe.
No leader in nearly 40 years of independence has finished his time in office in Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony on Africa's western coast.
The accord was signed late on Wednesday without the participation of the country's ruling party, though a number of opposition parties backed it. They include the party of Kumba Yala, one of the two presidential candidates in a runoff vote that was derailed by the coup.
"This will allow us to peacefully organize voter registration in a biometric format, and to hold legislative and presidential elections simultaneously," said Artur Sanha, a spokesman for the political parties.
The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau following the coup, and the Economic Community Of West African States has sent mediators.
Guinea-Bissau was just weeks away from holding a presidential runoff election when soldiers attacked the front-runner's home and arrested him along with the interim president.
The military officials behind last week's coup claim that the front-runner, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr, had signed an agreement allowing troops from Angola to attack forces in Guinea-Bissau. Gomes' whereabouts are unknown.
Some analysts believe the men behind the coup were concerned about interference in the country's drug trade.
Traffickers from Latin America use the nation's archipelago of uninhabited islands to land small planes loaded with drugs, which are then parceled out and carried north for sale in Europe.
No leader in nearly 40 years of independence has finished his time in office in Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony on Africa's western coast.
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