2019 Guinea-Bissau presidential election
{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 2019 Guinea-Bissau presidential election
| country = Guinea-Bissau
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 2014 Guinea-Bissau general election
| previous_year = 2014
| next_election = Guinea-Bissau legislative election
| next_year = 2025
| election_date = 24 November 2019 (first round)
{{nowrap|29 December 2019 (second round)}}
| image_size = 150x150px
| image2 = Domingos Simões Pereira.jpg
| nominee2 = Domingos Simões Pereira
| party2 = African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
| popular_vote2 = 254,468
| percentage2 = 46.45%
| image1 = Umaro Sissoco Embaló en 2021.jpg
| nominee1 = Umaro Sissoco Embaló
| party1 = Madem G15
| popular_vote1 = 293,359
| percentage1 = 53.55%
| map = {{Switcher
| 300px
| First round results by region
| 300px
| Second round results by region|default=2}}
| title = President
| before_election = José Mário Vaz
| before_party = African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
| after_election = Umaro Sissoco Embaló
| after_party = Madem G15
}}{{Politics of Guinea-Bissau}}
Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 24 November 2019. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 29 December.{{cite news|url=https://www.africanews.com/2019/06/19/guinea-bissau-presidential-election-to-be-held-on-november-24/ |title=Guinea Bissau presidential election to be held on November 24 |date=19 June 2019 |website=AfricaNews}} Incumbent president José Mário Vaz finished fourth in the first round of voting, failing to progress to the runoff. Umaro Sissoco Embaló won the second round with 54% of the vote, becoming the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC since 1999–2000.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/guinea-bissaus-leader-concedes-election-defeat/1658683|title = Guinea-Bissau's leader concedes election defeat}} {{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13443186|title = Guinea-Bissau country profile|work = BBC News|date = 2 March 2020}}
Background
Guinea-Bissau returned to constitutional order in 2014 with the election of Vaz as president. Vaz won the 2014 presidential election as the PAIGC’s candidate but fell out with the party after he dismissed his Prime Minister Domingos Simões Pereira, leader of the PAIGC, in August 2015. During his presidency (2014-2019), Vaz has worked with seven prime ministers – an indicator of the degree of political instability that characterises his administration. {{cite news|url=https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/ecowass-efforts-at-resolving-guinea-bissaus-protracted-political-crisis-2015-2019/|title=ECOWAS’s efforts at resolving Guinea-Bissau’s protracted political crisis, 2015-2019 |date=2 September 2019 |website=Accord}}
On 26 October 2019 violent protests followed the dismissal of Prime-Minister Aristides Gomes. Vaz met with a senior military leader as rumors of a coup took hold. On 9 November 2019 President Vaz yielded to pressure from the West African regional organization ECOWAS and the African Union and reinstated his former prime minister.{{cite news|url=https://africatimes.com/2019/11/09/vaz-reinstates-pm-amid-concerns-over-a-guinea-bissau-coup/|title=Vaz reinstates PM amid concerns over a Guinea Bissau coup |date=9 November 2019 |website=africatimes}}
Candidates
The elections were contested by 12 candidates, including:{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/pt-002/quem-s%C3%A3o-os-candidatos-%C3%A0s-presidenciais-na-guin%C3%A9-bissau/a-51091046|title=Quem são os candidatos às presidenciais na Guiné-Bissau?|date=2 November 2019|website=Deutsche Welle|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103183853/https://www.dw.com/pt-002/quem-s%C3%A3o-os-candidatos-%C3%A0s-presidenciais-na-guin%C3%A9-bissau/a-51091046 |archive-date=2019-11-03 |access-date=2019-11-15}}
- José Mário Vaz, incumbent president. An economist elected in 2014 as the candidate of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), but now running as an independent; the first president to complete his five year term in office
- Gabriel Fernando Indi of the United Social Democratic Party, a former football club director
- Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Madem G15, a former prime minister
- Carlos Gomes Júnior, a former prime minister running as an independent
- Baciro Djá of the {{ill|Patriotic Front of National Salvation|pt|Frente Patriótica de Salvação Nacional}} (FREPASNA), another former prime minister
- Nuno Gomes Nabiam, an MP from the Assembly of the People United
- Mamadú Iaia Djaló of the New Democracy Party, a former foreign minister.
Results
In the first round of voting Domingos Simões Pereira led the field, with 40.13% of the vote. Incumbent president José Mário Vaz finished fourth in the first round of voting, failing to progress to the runoff.{{Cite web|date=2019-06-19|title=Guinea Bissau presidential election to be held on November 24|url=https://www.africanews.com/2019/06/19/guinea-bissau-presidential-election-to-be-held-on-november-24/|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Africanews|language=en}} According to the preliminary and final results published by the national commission of elections, Umaro Sissoco Embaló won the runoff vote against Simões Pereira, 54% to 46%.
{{Election results
|cand1=Domingos Simões Pereira|party1=African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde|votes1=222870|votes1_2=254468
|cand2=Umaro Sissoco Embaló|party2=Madem G15|votes2=153530|votes2_2=293359
|cand3=Nuno Gomes Nabiam|party3=Assembly of the People United|votes3=73063
|cand4=José Mário Vaz|party4=Independent|votes4=68933
|cand5=Carlos Gomes Júnior|party5=Independent|votes5=14766
|cand6=Baciro Djá|party6={{ill|Patriotic Front of National Salvation|pt|Frente Patriótica de Salvação Nacional}}|votes6=7126
|cand7={{ill|Vicente Fernandes|pt}}|party7=Democratic Convergence Party|votes7=4250
|cand8=Mamadú Iaia Djaló|party8=New Democracy Party|votes8=2813
|cand9=Idrissa Djaló|party9=National Unity Party|votes9=2569
|cand10=Mutaro Intai Djabi|party10=Independent|votes10=2385
|cand11=Gabriel Fernando Indi|party11=United Social Democratic Party|votes11=1982
|cand12={{ill|António Afonso Té|pt}}|party12=Republican Party for Independence and Development|votes12=1061
|invalid=11125|invalid2=5694
|electorate=761676|electorate2=761676
|source=[http://www.cne.gw/noticias/225-cne-resultados-provisorios-presidenciais-2019 CNE], [http://www.cne.gw/noticias/241-a-cne-cumpriu-com-a-recomendacao-emandada-pela-cedeao-ponto-10-do-comunicado-do-dia-30-de-janeiro CNE]
}}
Aftermath
Simões Pereira disputed the results.{{Cite web|date=2020-02-05|title=Guinea Bissau ex-PM Embalo declared winner of runoff|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/02/05/g-bissau-ex-pm-embalo-wins-poll-round-2/|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Africanews|language=en}} Although neither the supreme court of Guinea-Bissau nor the parliament had given its approval for the official swearing-in ceremony, Sissoco Embaló had organized an alternative swearing-in ceremony in a hotel in Bissau to announce himself as legal president of Guinea-Bissau.{{Cite web|title=Umaro Sissoco Embalo swears himself in as Guinea-Bissau president|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2020-02-27-umaro-sissoco-embalo-swears-himself-in-as-guinea-bissau-president/|access-date=2021-02-11|website=BusinessLIVE|language=en-ZA}} Several politicians in Guinea-Bissau, including prime minister Aristides Gomes, accused Sissoco Embaló of arranging a coup d'état, although outgoing president Vaz stepped down to allow Embaló to take power.{{Cite web|title=Em meio a contencioso judicial, Sissoco toma "posse simbólica" como Presidente da Guiné-Bissau|url=https://www.dw.com/pt-002/em-meio-a-contencioso-judicial-sissoco-toma-posse-simb%C3%B3lica-como-presidente-da-guin%C3%A9-bissau/a-52560557|access-date=11 February 2021|website=Deutsche Welle}}
Embaló was inaugurated as president in a ceremony in Bissau on 27 February 2020. However, the PAIGC rejected the results, claiming there had been electoral fraud, and submitted a petition to the Supreme Court. Holding a majority in National People's Assembly, the party swore in Speaker Cipriano Cassamá as a rival president. Cassamá resigned after a day, saying he had received death threats.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51704120 Guinea-Bissau's Cipriano Cassamá quits amid 'death threats'] BBC News, 2 March 2020
Embaló appointed Nuno Gomes Nabiam as Prime Minister. However, former Prime Minister Aristides Gomes refused to resign. After Embaló, a former army general, took office, armed soldiers were deployed at all government offices and the national radio.{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/guinea-bissau-coup-or-legitimate-change-of-power/a-52632844|title=Guinea-Bissau: Coup or legitimate change of power?|website=Deutsche Welle|date=4 March 2020}}