Guinea-Bissau’s government postpones December 6 elections indefinitely
The presidential and parliamentary votes were intended to restore civilian rule after the 2025 coup. The government has set no replacement date.
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The presidential and parliamentary votes were intended to restore civilian rule after the 2025 coup. The government has set no replacement date.
Guinea-Bissau’s transitional government has postponed the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 6, 2026, indefinitely, leaving the return to civilian rule without a timetable. Aly Silva, spokesperson for transitional Prime Minister Ilidio Vieira Te, confirmed the postponement to DW. No replacement date has been set.
The planned vote followed an election interrupted by a military coup. Voters cast ballots for a president and parliament in November 2025, but the military seized power on November 26, three days after voting and before official results could be announced. The military leadership promised a return to constitutional order.
The transitional government says the organizational and political conditions needed for elections are not in place. The October 6 deadline for submitting candidacies passed without applications from parties or potential candidates. Vieira Te said parties had failed to hold congresses to choose their candidates.
Lawyer and political analyst Cabi Sanha told DW that the failure to nominate candidates reflected restrictions on political activity, not simply organizational problems. Parties could not hold congresses or organize rallies, he said. He also said political parties and civil society had not been sufficiently involved in preparing the electoral process.
In an earlier referendum on August 30, 2026, voters approved constitutional amendments expanding presidential powers and reducing parliament from 102 to 65 seats. Critics question the process’s legitimacy because the changes were prepared under military rule without a regularly elected parliament. The opposition had called for a boycott.
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Fernando Vaz, spokesperson for the National Transitional Council, defended the changes as a targeted revision intended to improve political stability. He also rejected criticism that the reform gave the president additional powers at the prime minister’s expense.
The transitional government has announced plans for local elections in 2027. Sanha welcomed that proposal but said local voting should follow, rather than replace, the outstanding presidential and parliamentary elections needed to restore constitutional order.
Silva said the cabinet would first discuss the national elections and only afterward announce a new date publicly. The government has not set a timetable for that process.
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