Guinea-Bissau President Dissolves Parliament after Coup Attempt

BISSAU: Guinea-Bissau president Monday dissolved parliament ahead of fresh elections saying an “attempted coup” had plunged the West African nation into a new crisis.

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo issued a decree closing down the opposition-dominated parliament and announced a date for legislative elections would be “set at the opportune moment, in line with the constitution”.

Violence had erupted between members of the National Guard and Special Forces of the presidential guard on Thursday night in the capital Bissau, leaving two people dead.

Embalo, who was in Dubai attending the COP28 climate conference, arrived back in Bissau on Saturday and announced that an “attempted coup d’etat” had prevented him from returning earlier.

On Monday, he said there had been “complicity” between the National Guard and “certain political interests within the State apparatus”.

Source – Agencies