Bissau: O golpe de 2012

On the evening of 12 April 2012, elements of the armed forces of Guinea- Bissau carried out a coup d’état in the country. In a communiqué issued on 13 April, the junta announced the detention of the Interim President, Raimundo Pereira, the Prime Minister, Carlos Gomes Júnior, and the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff, General Antonio Indjai. The President of the Supreme Court, the President of the National Electoral Commission and three Cabinet Ministers remain in hiding in Bissau, while the whereabouts of the Prosecutor General remains unknown. 3. These events occurred against the backdrop of strained relations between the military and the political leadership of the country, as well as mounting tensions arising from the rejection by five of the nine presidential candidates of the outcome of the first round of the election, held on 18 March. According to the results announced by the National Electoral Commission, Carlos Gomes Júnior, the candidate of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), won 48.97 per cent of the votes, and the former President, Koumba Yalá, supported by the Social Renewal Party (PRS), garnered 23.36 per cent of the votes, while the remaining seven candidates garnered collectively less than 36 per cent of the votes. The five candidates, namely Koumba Yalá, Serifo Nhamadjo, First Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and member of the PAIGC, Henrique Rosa, former interim President and independent candidate, Afonso Té, candidate for the Republican Party for Independence and Development, and Serifo Baldé, candidate for the Guinean Salvation Democratic Socialist Party, alleged that the election was fraudulent, notwithstanding the assessment of international observers, including the African Union, the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that the polls had been fair and credible. On 7 April, the Supreme Court of Guinea-Bissau also rejected the allegations of fraud made by the presidential candidates. 4. Tensions heightened following the announcement by the National Electoral Commission on 11 April that the second round of the election would be held on 29 April between Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior and Koumba Yalá. Hours before the coup, Mr. Yalá, speaking on behalf of the five candidates contesting the outcome of the first round, reiterated to the media that he would not take part in the run-off election, and warned against campaigning for the run-off, which was scheduled to commence on 13 April.