Guinea-Bissau’s ruling military council has approved a one-year transitional charter that explicitly prohibits the interim president, General Horta Inta, and the appointed prime minister, Elídio Vieira T, from running in any upcoming elections.
The move comes two weeks after a military coup toppled former president Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
Under the charter, presidential and legislative elections are to be held at the end of the transition period, with the “high military command” overseeing wide-ranging constitutional and institutional reforms.
The document also establishes a 65-member National Transitional Council, including ten military officers, to serve as an interim legislative body.
Guinea-Bissau, a small West African nation, has long struggled with chronic political instability; since independence in 1974, only one president has ever completed a full term.
