Guinea Bissau presidential election to be held on November 24

<p><strong>Guinea Bissau will hold presidential elections on November 24 this year, according to a decree announced by president Jose Mario Vaz on Tuesday.</strong></p> <p>In the upcoming elections, 49 political parties are legally registered in the country, according to the decree.</p> <p>The November 24 election date is later than proposals put forward by the National Electoral Commission, which had recommended a November 3 first round, with a possible run-off vote on December 8.</p> <h2 style="font-size:16px;">Vaz vs Pereira</h2> <p>The West African country has been in political deadlock since August 2015 when Vaz sacked <span class="caps">PAIGC</span> party colleague Domingos Simoes Pereira from his post of prime minister after falling out with him.</p> <p>Pereira has refused to go quietly and repeatedly led protests demanding his reinstatement to the post.</p> <p>Vaz, also from <span class="caps">PAIGC</span>, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, will seek reelection after coming to power in 2014.</p> <p>A March 10 parliamentary vote saw the <span class="caps">PAIGC</span> and its allies control 54 of parliament’s 102 seats but lawmakers proposed Pereira, the party leader, as prime minister, a move rejected by Vaz.</p> <p>Last month, Pereira led over a thousand party supporters on a march in the capital Bissau.</p> <p>“Guinea Bissau is in a very risky situation,” Pereira said at the time, addressing the marchers.</p> <p>Wedged between Senegal and Guinea on Africa’s west coast, Guinea Bissau is notorious for its volatility.</p> <p>It has seen multiple coup attempts since independence from Portugal in 1973, four of which have been successful.</p> <p><strong><em><span class="caps">AFP</span></em></strong></p>

Guinea Bissau is in a very risky situation.