Guinea-Bissau will hold its legislative elections today | Photo: UN

Guinea-Bissau will hold legislative elections for the nation’s 102-seat National People’s Assembly today. The elections follow President Umaro Sissoco Embalo’s decision to dissolve the Assembly in May 2022, accusing cabinet ministers and deputies of corruption and poor parliamentary governance. Guinea-Bissau has had three absolute majority parliaments since the dawn of multiparty elections in 1994.

The previous absolute majority elections in Guinea-Bissau resulted in instability and violence. First, in 1994 the PAIGC, which is the former liberation movement, won 62 seats and resulted in a civil war. Second, the PAIGC won 67 seats in 2008, which resulted in a coup d’état in 2012. The third absolute majority government, the PAIGC dropped from 67 seats to 57 seats in parliament in 2014, leading to 15 PAIGC members forming their own party, the MADEM-G15. Despite previous election instability, political parties signed a code of conduct, sponsored by the United Nations, to accept the results of today’s presented by the National Electoral Commission.

However, the aftermath of the elections could still prove volatile and the potential for violent demonstrations persists.