🕒 Created

Guinea-Bissau voters approve new constitution to expand presidential powers ahead of December elections

Guinea-Bissau voters approved a new constitution that significantly increases the power of the president. The National Electoral Commission reported that 70 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the changes, with a turnout of nearly 60 percent. Under the new rules, the president will be able to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet, and will have the authority to create and abolish ministries or dissolve parliament. The constitution also reduces the number of parliamentary seats from 102 to 65 and cuts electoral constituencies from 29 to 12. The military government, which seized power in a coup last November, proposed the changes to stabilize state institutions before the general elections scheduled for December 6. Nelson Moreira, the second vice-president of the transitional council, stated that the current constitution was a cause of instability and that the military command made it possible to turn that dream into reality. The main opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, called for a boycott of the referendum. Leader Domingos Simões Pereira described the referendum as a democratic farce and a continuation of the coup d'état.

Sources

Paywall and unreadable sources