Three days after the vote for the legislative elections, the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries, the African Union, ECOWAS and the International Organization of La Francophonie declared that they had not noted any major incident during this election.
With our special correspondent in Bissau, Bineta Diagne
International observers are unanimous on one point: the ballot was free, transparent and peaceful in their words. No major incident was noted. A few flaws have nevertheless been noted, such as the non-respect of parity: 52% of voters are women but they are poorly represented on the lists of candidates.
” My mission makes recommendations: adopt a more ambitious parity law, either by adopting zebra lists, or by those of blocked quotas which means that the first is in an eligible position “, developed Joaquim Chissano, the head of the observation mission of the African Union.
ECOWAS, which provided $712,000 to help organize the election, would like to appeal to the entire political class. ” The Mission urges all stakeholders in the electoral process to respect the regulatory channels for the publication of results, to respect the agreements signed and asks them to refrain from any proclamation of the results outside the official channels. The Mission encourages stakeholders, in the event of litigation, to resort exclusively to legal means. », Jorge Carlos Fonseca, the head of this mission.
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Finally, international observers note a “ high turnout of voters, and salute the democratic maturity of the people » Bissau-Guinean. Ourbino Botelho, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sao Tomé and Principé, is at the head of the OIF observation mission.
We have seen a craze at the polls and in general, that all voters wanted to vote calmly in order […] We are waiting for the most crucial stage: the post-election. In Africa, this is unfortunately the stage where there are problems. We are counting on the maturity of the people of Guinea-Bissau and on the restraint of the authorities and political parties, which must accept the expression of the people.
The National Elections Commission (CNE) is expected to announce the provisional results today.