Guinea-Bissau must restore institutional legitimacy for credible elections

This briefing by the Institute for Security Studies examines the institutional fragility in Guinea-Bissau ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for 24 November. It argues that the lack of legitimacy in the National Elections Commission and the Supreme Court threatens the credibility of the electoral process and suggests that postponing elections and seeking a broad consensus may be necessary to ensure political stability.

• The legislative elections scheduled for 24 November are being organised by institutions that have lost their legitimacy, which risks increasing the country's institutional fragility. These elections follow President Umaro Sissoco Embaló's dissolution of the National People’s Assembly (ANP) in December, the second such dissolution since May 2022.
• The Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE) is considered illegitimate because the mandates of its president and executive secretariat members expired in April 2022 and have not been renewed. This is attributed to the government's desire for control and the ANP's inability to elect new members due to the dissolutions.
• The Supreme Court is currently dysfunctional and unable to perform its electoral mandates, such as validating candidates and declaring results. This is due to the forced resignation of president José Pedro Sambu in November and the suspension of six of the 12 judges via disciplinary proceedings, leaving the court without the required quorum of seven judges.
• To avoid a political crisis and ensure credible elections, the author suggests that President Embaló reach a consensus with political players to restore institutional normalcy. This could include postponing the legislative elections and combining them with presidential elections at a later date, which would allow time to appoint new CNE and Supreme Court personnel.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Guinea-Bissau must restore institutional legitimacy for credible elections. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/guinea-bissau-must-restore-institutional-legitimacy-for-credible-elections

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Guinea-Bissau must restore institutional legitimacy for credible elections. n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/guinea-bissau-must-restore-institutional-legitimacy-for-credible-elections.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Guinea-Bissau must restore institutional legitimacy for credible elections |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/guinea-bissau-must-restore-institutional-legitimacy-for-credible-elections |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndguineabissau, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Guinea-Bissau must restore institutional legitimacy for credible elections}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/guinea-bissau-must-restore-institutional-legitimacy-for-credible-elections}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }