Deposed Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo plans to return to the country on October 4 to run for the Presidency in an election scheduled for December, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Embalo was toppled in a military coup last November, shortly before results from presidential and legislative elections were due to be announced.
Senior army officers suspended the electoral process and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as transitional President.
The military authorities later scheduled new presidential and legislative elections on December 6 this year.
Embalo’s campaign organisation has not yet been finalised, one source close to Embalo said, adding that the military-led government had assured the former President that he is “welcome” to return. A government Spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Embalo has been outside the country since the coup last year, fleeing to Senegal and then the Republic of Congo. Reuters could not establish his current whereabouts.
Guinea-Bissau approved a new constitution in a referendum in August that expanded presidential powers and changed electoral rules. Among other provisions, it requires presidential candidates to have lived continuously in the country for the preceding five years. It was unclear how that provision might affect Embalo’s candidacy.
Guinea-Bissau, a small Portuguese-speaking West African country, has a long history of military coups and is a transit hub for cocaine bound for Europe.
–Reuters–
