The presidential and legislative elections scheduled for December 6 in Guinea-Bissau are seriously in jeopardy. The National Electoral Commission (CNE) believes that the technical conditions necessary to organize the vote have not been met.
“We explained to the President of the Transition that, technically, the conditions will not be met to organize the elections on December 6,” CNE Vice-President Felisberta Moura Vaz said on Thursday, following a meeting with General Horta N’Tam.
Asked about a possible postponement of the elections, which are intended to mark the return of civilians to power, the electoral official indicated that this decision falls under the authority of the President of the Transition.
For his part, Guinea-Bissau’s Prime Minister, Ilidio Vieira Té, also met with General Horta N’Tam on Thursday. Following the meeting, he stressed that political parties were not sufficiently prepared to participate in the elections under optimal conditions.
“As of today, no political party is yet in an ideal position to go to the polls,” he said.
The head of government notably pointed to the outdated leadership structures of several political parties, arguing that a renewal of their grassroots bodies was necessary to ensure the credibility of the electoral process.
These statements further weaken the prospect of a return to constitutional order on the originally announced date. The transitional authorities had scheduled presidential and legislative elections for December 6, intended to pave the way for the return of civilians to power.
However, no official decision to postpone the elections has been announced in the reported statements.
