AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – Coup: President Embalo in exile in Senegal

Bissau – The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was overthrown in a military coup on November 26 , has sought refuge in Senegal. The self-proclaimed military junta, the “Supreme Military Command for the Restoration of Order,” has appointed General Horta N’Tam, Chief of Staff of the Army, as President of the transitional government, which is to remain in office for one year.
“The country is in a politically difficult and delicate phase. The challenges we face are immense and urgent. We must take decisive action against the drug trafficking networks that corrupt the state, politics, and society,” General N’Tam declared in his inaugural address.
In response to the coup, the Economic Community of West African States has suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies. The measure was decided at a virtual crisis summit, where the heads of state of the ECOWAS member countries condemned the coup and insisted that the National Electoral Commission be allowed to announce the results of the November 23 elections, rejecting any agreement that “perpetuates the illegal disruption of the democratic process.”
The coup occurred immediately before the announcement of the results of the presidential elections, in which observers predicted President Embalo would have lost. It was therefore initially assumed that the coup was an initiative by the outgoing president to remain in power, a hypothesis that appears to be losing credibility with Embalo’s forced exile. Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa stated that he was in a safe location. Domingos Simões Pereira, president of the African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde , was arrested by the coup leaders and is being held at an air force base.

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