According to an announcement on state television, the interim administration will temporarily rule for a period of one year.
A day later, senior officials said they had ousted the president, halted the general election process, and formed what they called a “high military command for the restoration of order.”
The streets of the capital, Bissau, were comparatively quiet on Thursday, with many people staying at home after an overnight curfew was lifted. Businesses and banks were closed.
The timing was clear with reports of continuous firing in the government district on Wednesday and the announcement of the army’s takeover soon after.
It came just a day before the release of the results of the first round of Sunday’s general election, which also included voting to elect a new president.
Although outgoing President Oumar Sissoko Embalso later told French media that he had been detained, and his wife told DW the same after a request to the presidential office went unanswered, the military did not comment explicitly on the president’s whereabouts or condition, other than to say that it had deposed him.
Top opposition candidate says president and military are plotting to sabotage his victory
Embalho’s main rival in the first round of voting, Fernando Dias, meanwhile, claimed that the current president , himself a former general , Was working with the military to cancel Sunday’s elections.
Dias, like Embalho, had already said he was confident he had won the first round of voting outright before the coup.
The 47-year-old political newcomer said in a video that the coup was “fabricated” and an attempt to keep him from power, comments that echoed those of some civil society groups.
In a statement to Reuters news agency, the coalition supporting Dias demanded that the election results be released as previously planned. It also called for the release of Domingo Simões Pereira, who lost to Emballo in the last vote in 2019, who has also reportedly been detained.
Army accuses drug smugglers of conspiring to influence elections
Meanwhile, the army had alleged a conspiracy to destabilize the country and manipulate the vote. It claimed that “drug smugglers” and foreign elements were involved, without giving specific details.
“The plan was set up by some national politicians with the involvement of a known drug mafia and domestic and foreign nationals,” military spokesman Denis N’Chama said.
The poor West African coastal country of about 2.2 million people is a well-known hub for cocaine moving from Latin America to Europe.
Since independence from former colonial power Portugal in 1974, the country has been rocked by several coups and attempted coups. The government recently announced the arrest of senior military officers accused of plotting a coup in late October.
African Union, ECOWAS express condolence over coup
The African Union (AU) said in a statement on Thursday, attributed to its president Mahmoud Ali Youssef, a former foreign minister of Djibouti, that it was imperative to “respect the ongoing electoral process and preserve the constitutional order” in Guinea-Bissau.
It added that Youssef “calls for the immediate and unconditional release of President Mbalo and all detained officials, and urges all parties to exercise utmost restraint to prevent the situation from worsening further.”
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) similarly condemned the coup, and also warned about the status of its election observers, who were present in a country where results are often disputed.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was perhaps the most prominent member of the delegation.
“I would not say that he (Goodluck Jonathan) and others are stranded in Guinea-Bissau, but we do not know his whereabouts,” ECOWAS spokesman Joel Ahofodji told Reuters on Thursday.
Liberian senator Edwin Snow also told Reuters he had left the country on Wednesday and could not reach fellow observers there.
The United Nations said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was following developments in Guinea-Bissau “with concern.”
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko
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