Guinea-Bissau: Supreme Court bars main opposition coalition from legislative vote

A political wrangle is brewing in Guinea-Bissau following the Supreme Court's decision to exclude the main opposition coalition from participating in the upcoming legislative elections.

The Pai Terra Ranka coalition, comprising 10 smaller parties, has been barred from submitting its candidates due to a late submission.

The coalition, led by Domingos Simoes Pereira, said it will seek further clarifications from the Supreme Court. According to Supreme Court sources, candidates were required to submit their names 72 hours before the September 25 deadline.

Pereira, a former Prime Minister, had also submitted his candidacy for the presidency on Thursday. He is seeking to replace President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who has also filed his bid.

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo defeated Pereira in the 2019 presidential election, despite some contestation.

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, a former army general, was declared the winner of the December 2019 runoff vote. He survived an alleged coup attempt in February last year when assailants armed with machine guns and AK-47s attacked Guinea-Bissau's government palace for hours.

Since assuming office, Embalo has been consolidating power and cracking down on civic freedoms, according to analysts.

He dissolved the parliament in May 2022 and postponed the parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for December of that year. Embalo, later in December 2023, dissolved the parliament again, saying an "attempted coup" had plunged the West African nation into a new crisis.