Main opponents in Guinea-Bissau’s presidential contest
Guinea-Bissau In the politically unstable West African country, 53-year-old former army commander President Umaro Sissoco Embalo is up against 11 opponents in a vote on November 23 for a second term.
Details about the principal opposition candidates are as follows:
DIAS FERNANDO
Embalo is attempting to become the first incumbent president to win a second term in the West African country in thirty years, and Dias, 47, has emerged as the unlikely front-runner. Dias is a relatively unknown and untested contender.
This is due to the fact that former prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, who finished second in the contentious 2019 presidential race, has endorsed him.
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which was established by revolutionary leader Amilcar Cabral and spearheaded the nationalist drive for independence from Portugal, is represented by Pereira. In 2019 and 2023, the PAIGC emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections.
However, officials claim that Pereira and the PAIGC-led PAI Terra Ranka coalition were late in submitting the required paperwork, which prevented them from running this year. As a result, Pereira threw his support to Dias.
“The unexpected PAIGC–Dias alliance challenges the regime’s certainty of a swift victory, making a second election round likely,” an Institute for Security Studies note from Paulin Maurice Toupane, a senior researcher for West Africa, stated.
If no contender receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will take place.
Dias, the head of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), which has always been supported by the largest ethnic group in Bissau, the Balanta, studied law in Bissau.
He has pledged to strengthen security in the nation prone to coups while cautioning that, should Embalo win reelection, he will significantly expand the president’s authority through a constitutional referendum.
JOSE MARIO VAZ
Vaz, 67, was the first president to hold the office for the entire term since Guinea-Bissau gained independence from Portugal in 1974. He held the office from 2014 to 2020.
He lost the 2019 election in the first round, missing the runoff between Embalo and Pereira, and his time was tainted by political corruption and infighting. After receiving only 12% of the vote, he gave up and sided with Embalo.
Vaz is criticized for failing to curb corruption and the transit of drugs through coastal forested islands.
During his tenure, he had seven different prime ministers, which further cemented Guinea-Bissau’s reputation for political instability.
Despite this, he has vowed to bring stability back to the government if he is elected again.
DJA BACIRO
When Vaz was president, Dja, a 52-year-old former defense minister, briefly held the position of prime minister twice, in 2015 and 2016.
He was unable to secure the complete backing of the PAIGC, which he required in order to govern successfully, on both occasions.
With slightly more than 1% of the vote, he came in sixth place in the 2019 presidential election.
VIEIRA JOAO BERNARDO
The 48-year-old Joao Bernardo Vieira is the nephew and namesake of the longest-serving president of Guinea-Bissau, who reigned virtually continuously from 1980 to 1999 and again from 2005 to 2009 until being killed by soldiers.
The younger Vieira currently speaks for the African Party for Freedom and Development of Guinea, or PALDG, after formerly serving as spokesperson for the PAIGC.
