ECOWAS refutes Guinea-Bissau’s transition roadmap after coup
The military took control on November 26, just days after disputed elections in which both ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and challenger Fernando Dias da Costa claimed victory. Soldiers installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president under a Military High Command, later appointing civil servant and former finance minister Ilidio Vieira Te as prime minister.
The military government recently unveiled a 29-article transitional charter outlining a 12-month framework that would conclude with presidential and legislative elections. The plan includes a 65-member National Transition Council, ten of whom are senior military officers, to act as a legislative body. It also proposes broad legal and institutional reforms, including changes to the suspended constitution and electoral bodies.
At its annual summit in Abuja, Nigeria, ECOWAS stated that the military’s plan does not satisfy regional standards for restoring civilian authority. The bloc called for the immediate release of political detainees and emphasized the need for an inclusive, short-term transition leading to a fully elected government.
“The authority shall impose targeted sanctions on individuals or groups of persons that obstruct the transition process or that obstruct the process of returning the country to constitutional order,” said ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray in a statement.
ECOWAS has also directed its chair to lead a high-level delegation to Guinea-Bissau to negotiate terms for a return to constitutional rule. The bloc has suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies and reaffirmed its “zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government.”
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