The president of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Domingos Simões Pereira, was elected as the party’s candidate for the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for November 23 in Guinea-Bissau. But he was abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Freshly returned from a nine-month exile, Domingos Simões Pereira seemed well on his way to entering the race for the highest office. To his dismay, however, the Supreme Court invalidated his party’s candidacy, citing a submission deemed late.
Pereira, a politician and former Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 to 2015, was overwhelmingly endorsed by his party for the presidential race. He received 359 votes out of a total of 370, with nine against and two ballots declared void, according to the results of an internal election described as "clean” by local media.
"I accept the nomination to run as the PAIGC candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, and I intend to seek the support of the other parties that make up our PAI Terra Ranka platform,” Domingos Simões Pereira had declared at the time.
This is, in fact, the second time the PAIGC has placed its trust in him. The same happened during the 2019 election, which was won by President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, now running for a second term. This time, however, his momentum was cut short.