The Military High Command that has seized power in Guinea-Bissau has threatened to shut down any media outlet in the country that publishes news about calls for civil disobedience issued by civil society organisations.
According to Lusa, the threat from the Military High Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order is contained in a statement released in Bissau. In the document, the body states that, due to the coup d’état, certain provisions of the Constitution are suspended and replaced by the Political Transition Charter, which, among other measures, restricts certain forms of public expression.
The body currently governing Guinea-Bissau states that actions that “encourage disorder and vandalism” during the 12-month transition period are “strictly prohibited.”
“The Military High Command urges all media outlets – radio stations, newspapers, television, etc. – to cooperate by avoiding the dissemination of information or messages that call for violence and civil disobedience, under penalty of being immediately shut down,” the statement reads.
Three Guinean civil society organisations – Frente Popular, Firkidja di Pubis and the Revolutionary Movement Pó de Terra – have been calling on public servants, through the media and social networks, to engage in civil disobedience as a form of protest against the coup.
The Transitional Government has already warned that measures will be taken against any public servant who joins the disobedience movement, including salary deductions and disciplinary proceedings—a position reinforced in the statement from the Military High Command.
The candidacy of Fernando Dias, who claims victory in the presidential elections, demanded on Wednesday (9) that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) convene a plenary session so that the electoral results can be announced “as quickly as possible.”
In a statement accessed by Lusa on social media, the candidate reacted to the CNE’s announcement that it is unwilling to proceed with the electoral process or publish results from the 23 November legislative and presidential elections, citing alleged acts of vandalism at its premises.
According to the CNE’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Idriça Djaló, these acts were allegedly carried out by “armed and hooded men” on 26 November, the eve of the release of the provisional results.
The candidacy of Fernando Dias da Costa, currently in exile at the Nigerian embassy in Bissau, condemns the “illegal stance” of the CNE’s executive secretariat, which it accuses of “usurping the powers” of the plenary—arguing that the plenary should have been convened to deliberate on the process. The candidate therefore demands that the CNE plenary be convened and the results published “as soon as possible so that the popular will expressed at the polls is respected.”
Military command seizes power
Guinea-Bissau has been suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and from another regional organisation, the African Union, following the coup d’état on 26 November, when a Military High Command seized power, deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló—who fled the country—and suspended the electoral process.
The Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) has also recommended that the heads of state suspend the country from the organisation.
The general elections (presidential and legislative) had taken place peacefully, but on the eve of the publication of the official results, gunfire in Bissau preceded the takeover by the Military High Command, which appointed the transitional President, General Horta Inta-A.
The general announced that the transition period will last no more than one year and appointed Ilídio Vieira Té—former minister under Embaló—as prime minister and minister of finance. A new transitional government has since been sworn in, including members of the deposed government and five military officers among the 23 ministers and five secretaries of state.
During the coup, the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Simões Pereira, was detained. The takeover by the military is being denounced by the opposition as a manoeuvre to prevent the release of the electoral results.
