BISSAU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- After Guinea-Bissau's armed forces seized full control of state power to counter what they described as attempts to destabilize the country, senior military officer Horta Inta-A was sworn in as transitional president on Thursday.
The sudden shift occurred only a day before the release of presidential election results and stemmed from sharp tensions among competing political forces, according to analysts.
In their view, Guinea-Bissau's long-standing instability is closely linked to deep-rooted poverty and persistent drug trafficking.
On Wednesday, Dinis N'Tchama, spokesperson for the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order, announced that President Umaro Sissoco Embalo had been removed from office.
Some military sources told Xinhua that several senior government officials had been detained, including Interior Minister Botche Cande, Chief of the General Staff Biague Na Ntan, and Deputy Chief of Staff Mamadou Toure.
On Thursday morning, the streets of Bissau, the national capital, lay largely empty, with only a few pedestrians moving through an uneasy atmosphere. Once-busy main roads saw almost no traffic. As military trucks rolled into the city from the outskirts, armed soldiers manned key intersections, allowing only authorized vehicles to pass.
The episode by the military, analysts said, came shortly after Sunday's presidential and legislative elections and just before preliminary results were expected, reflecting an increasingly contentious electoral environment.
Guinea-Bissau's electoral code mandates a runoff when no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote in the first round.
After the initial voting, both incumbent President Embalo and independent candidate Fernando Dias da Costa claimed victory, even as official results remained pending.
N'Tchama said the military acted to counter some alleged plans by "certain domestic politicians" and "well-known drug traffickers at home and abroad" to undermine stability and influence the election outcome.
Classified by the United Nations (UN) as one of the least developed countries, Guinea-Bissau has limited industrial capacity and insufficient food production. Since independence from Portugal in the 1970s, it has suffered chronic political instability, experiencing at least nine coups or attempted coups since 1980. After Embalo took office in 2020, the government recorded three attempted coups.
Local and international media commentators argued that the recurring turmoil has severely hindered efforts to reduce poverty, while rampant drug trafficking continues to complicate economic development and social stability.
With long coastlines and many uninhabited islands, the country has been exploited by trafficking networks. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime identified Guinea-Bissau as a major transit hub for narcotics smuggled from Latin America to Europe for more than a decade.
U.S. think tank Robert Lansing Institute wrote that Guinea-Bissau's political environment is now highly strained and that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) may consider sanctions or other measures.
Analysts also warned that commercial cooperation projects could be disrupted, and the country's already fragile humanitarian situation may deteriorate further.
Heads of the African Union Election Observation Mission, ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, and the West African Elders Forum issued a joint statement on Wednesday expressing deep concern over the situation and calling for a return to constitutional order and national stability.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a daily briefing that the UN chief is following the Guinea-Bissau situation with deep concern and appealed to all national stakeholders in the country to exercise restraint and respect the rule of law. ■
