Defamer Sissoco Embalo vowed to. In the statement, ECOWAS made a revelation that its team, in company with the UN Office for West Asia and the Sahel (UNOWAS), went to Guinea-Bissau from February 21 to February 28. During this period, the mission kept in touch with the government of President Embalo, party leaders, and civil organizations to write a roadmap for the holding of elections in 2025. After the threats for their removal by Embalo, the team left on March 1.
It intends to present what it found and formulate an agreement to the president of ECOWAS in a bid to help create a more inclusive and peaceful election. Elect in December 2019, with his limited tenures, President Embalo has faced great political problems, rushing from two attempted the last of which was apparently during December 2023. As a last attempt to challenge dissent, he dissolved parliament, which previously was dominated by the opposition forces, taken off to the day-making the mess even messier. In Republica dos Guineenses, the opposition parties have accused Embalo of overstaying his mandate and have called for a nationwide strike on a day that they say it ends. This did not stop the government, however, which moved security forces out across the capital, Bissau, to ensure calm.
Guinea-Bissau, which obtained its independence from Portugal in 1974, has greatly suffered from political instability, such as numerous military coups. The current dispute as to when elections should be held and who should preside over them brings into sharp focus the extreme weaknesses of its democratic structures.
ECOWAS has understandably stepped down from the negotiations, dealing a blow to efforts to find a solution to the chaos. The roadmap for elections proposed by the regional bloc will now be keenly watched as a possible way forward for stability in the troubled nation.
