By RFIPublished on 12/29/2019 Modified on 12/29/2019 at 9:30 AM

Subscribed to political crises since its independence in 1973, Guinea-Bissau chooses this Sunday its new president. Some 760,000 voters are called to the polls to decide between two candidates, Domingos Simões Pereira of PAIGC, a historic party which led the first round, far ahead of Umaro Sissoko Embalo of the Madem G-15 party, which came in second.

As soon as day broke, in the light of the flashlights, the officers of the electoral commission with their yellow vests settled at their posts. A table, two chairs, a plastic urn, a cardboard voting booth ... All this on the sidewalk. Most of the polling stations are outside, on the street, with the presidential palace decorated for Christmas as a backdrop. Fir and neon lights…

A small file of early morning voters has formed and we see stones, goblets or cans on the ground, an unstoppable system for keeping its place in the queue.

Voters receive a ballot with photos of the two candidates. There is a checkbox. According to the electoral commission, all the conditions are met for a smooth running of the poll.

The election promises to be close between two candidates whom everything opposes…

The games are open. On paper, Domingos Simões Pereira leaves with a head start, but the PAIGC has lost ground, especially in the east of the country.

And for his part, Umaro Sissoko Embalo, indeed, won the support of the main unsuccessful candidates in the first round. But party officials and activists do not necessarily follow the voting instructions.

There is therefore a choice between two opposing personalities. One, Domingos Simões Pereira , 56, a civil engineer, with his eternal hat. Speech, he presents himself as the candidate for stability.

And opposite, Umaro Sissoko Embalo, 47, round face, glasses, red and white keffiyeh around his head ... And in his deliberately provocative speeches, he never stopped attacking the PAIGC's results, even if he himself came out of it, before the creation of his party only a year and a half ago.

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So the issue will be the carryover of votes and also the vote of the 25% of voters who abstained in the first round.

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