Guinea-Bissau Faces Presidential Crisis After Term Expiry.
The political crisis in Guinea-Bissau deepens as President Embaló blocks new government formation after his term ends.
Guinea-Bissau Faces Institutional Crisis as Presidential Term Ends
Guinea-Bissau is currently embroiled in an institutional crisis as President Umaro Sissoco Embaló's five-year term officially expired on February 28, 2025. Despite the expiry of his term, Embaló has refused to relinquish his leadership position.
Domingos Simões Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), has called for Embaló’s immediate resignation. Pereira, who heads a coalition that won the 2023 parliamentary elections with an absolute majority, accuses Embaló of actively blocking his efforts to form a new government.
The crisis deepens as the four-year term of the current parliament has also concluded. Pereira is demanding that new presidential and parliamentary elections be held within 90 days, rather than the November 30 deadline suggested by Embaló. Pereira stressed that the constitution requires the elections to occur sooner.
Additionally, Pereira has called for the urgent reconvening of the parliament, which was dissolved by Embaló in December 2023. He insists that this body must urgently appoint members to the National Election Commission and elect a new president for the Constitutional Court, both of whose mandates have expired.
This view is widely shared by other political parties, legal experts, and civil society representatives across Guinea-Bissau.
What's Your Reaction?
