Guinea-Bissau: new president paves way for constitutional reform

Umaro Sissoco Embalo the new president of Guinea-Bissau. SEYLLOU / AFP

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The new president Umaro Sissoco Embalo announced by decree a constitutional revision which goes in the direction of the recommendations made by the ECOWAS. A technical commission charged with the revision of the Constitution must be set up as soon as possible. A challenge for the country victim of repeated political crises.

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With our correspondent in Bissau , Allen Yero Embalo

It is the first concrete project of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo: the revision of the Constitution. A Constitution at the base of the many crises that Guinea-Bissau has experienced since the last revision in 1991 of this fundamental law.

“  This is a debate that deserves to be broadened so that we can reach a consensus. We know that whoever was in power did not want to let go. So it is necessary to put ourselves around a table to make ad hoc corrections so that the country can function normally without jolts,  "said Carlos Vamain, constitutional lawyer.

For the Head of State, it is a question of adapting the text to the challenges of the moment and of adopting a system of government which better fits socio-cultural realities and which also contributes to guaranteeing stability in terms of the functioning of the institutions. “  Our Constitution is full of gaps. A good constitution must be well structured. We must therefore find a form of articulation,  ”adds François Dias, jurist and political analyst.

A technical committee will be set up to make the necessary corrections, within three months. A downside, however, the Bissau-Guinean Constitution nowhere provides for a referendum for the adoption of the new constitution.

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  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Umaro Sissoco Embalo

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