By RFIPosted on 18-01-2020Modified on 18-01-2020 at 21:52

In Bissau, the Supreme Court requests a "verification" of the results of the presidential election in late December. The National Election Commission announced results on Friday as final. According to the Commission, Umaro Sissoco Embalo won the ballot, which is contested by Domingos Simões Pereira, the candidate of PAIGC, the historic party. But in its January 17 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that verification at the national level was necessary.

The Supreme Court order is a response to a request for clarification by lawyers for the loser, Domingos Simoes Pereira.

The judges therefore provide details to their decree last weekend. On Friday, the Supreme Court called for an "apuramento", literally a "verification" of the overall minutes by the National Election Commission.

Concretely, according to a source close to the Supreme Court, it is a question of controlling the national result on the basis of regional minutes.

Voters have the right to know if the results match their vote ...

Domingos Simões Pereira, PAIGC candidate

01-18-2020 - By Michel Arseneault

In an interview with the agency Lusa, from Lisbon where he is located, Umaro Sissoco Embalo considered that the Supreme Court had made it clear that the National Electoral Commission was the only competent to publish the results of the presidential election.

For its part, the ex-ruling party requests a recount of the votes. Madem, the Movement for Democratic Change, is opposed to it. For one of its vice-presidents, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Aristides Ocante Da Siva, the case "is closed".

It is madness. The recount is not provided for by law. The PAIGC candidate wants to be president at all costs. But he knows very well that the recount is not allowed by law. Mr. Simoens Pereira wants to make believe in an imbroglio between the National electoral commission and the Supreme court. The only body authorized to pronounce on the final electoral results is the National Electoral Commission. No other body is empowered to proclaim the winner. The PAIGC and its candidate, Domingos Simões Pereira, know very well that the National Election Commission has already spoken out. She has already proclaimed the winner! Umaro Sissoco Embalo is the president! There is no ambiguity possible. The PAIGC is acting in bad faith. They are bad losers.

Abdu Mané, member of the Madem national political commission

01-18-2020 - By Michel Arseneault

    On the same subject

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