ECOWAS Rejects Guinea-Bissau Military’s Transition Plan

(MENAFN) West Africa’s leading political and economic organization, ECOWAS, has dismissed a transitional roadmap suggested by Guinea-Bissau’s military authorities following last month’s coup. The bloc urged an urgent restoration of constitutional governance and cautioned that sanctions might be enforced if the military fails to comply.

On November 26, Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces took control, just three days after contested elections in which both the ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and his main opponent, Fernando Dias da Costa, claimed full victory. The soldiers appointed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president under a newly established Military High Command tasked with governing the nation, and later named Ilidio Vieira Te, a former finance minister and civil servant, as prime minister.

Recently, the military administration released a transitional charter containing 29 articles, outlining a 12-month schedule that would culminate in presidential and parliamentary elections. The charter envisages a 65-member National Transition Council, which includes ten high-ranking military officers, serving as a legislative body. It also suggests extensive legal and institutional reforms, such as amendments to the suspended constitution and modifications to the electoral institutions.

MENAFN15122025000045017167ID1110482099