Bissau, Sept 12 – Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has announced that he will not run for a second term in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November, a move that could affect the country’s fragile political stability.
Embaló, 51, was elected in January 2020 after winning 54% of the vote against rival Domingos Simões Pereira. He would have been eligible for re-election but made the unexpected announcement at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, saying his wife had convinced him not to seek another term.
He indicated that none of his main political rivals, including Pereira, Braima Camará, or Nuno Gomes Na Bian, would succeed him but did not specify who might take over. Embaló’s refusal to name a preferred successor adds to the uncertainty in a nation with a history of political unrest and coups.
A former army general and prime minister under previous President José Mário Vaz, Embaló took office amid a political crisis. Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by instability since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, and Embaló himself survived two coup attempts during his presidency, most recently in December 2023.
The president dissolved parliament twice during his time in office, first in May 2022, after a failed attempt to pass constitutional changes that would have shifted more power to the presidency. Guinea-Bissau’s semi-presidential system allows the president to dismiss the government, often leading to political deadlock.
