Africa

President Vaz of Guinea-Bissau rallies MP’s support for ministerial appointment

Guinea-Bissau’s President José Mário Vaz  met with the leaders of political parties represented at the National Assembly to rally support for his decision to appoint a new Prime Minister.

According to the Presidency of the Republic, José Mário Vaz will receive alternately the leaders of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), the Movement for Democratic Change (Madem-G15), the Social Renovation Party (PRS), the People’s Assembly Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau (APU-PDGB), the Union for Change (UM), and finally the Party of New Democracy (PND).

Immediately after, a source close to the president of Guinea-Bissau says José Mário Vaz will discuss with the members of the State Council about the appointment of a Prime Minister, a position he intends to entrust to Domingos Simões Pereira (PAIGC). The latter should be sworn by 22 June 2019 at the latest.

However, José Mário Vaz argued that he would not appoint a Prime Minister until the Bureau of the National Assembly was informed. To this end, a group of emissaries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, is due on Saturday in Guinea-Bissau to help resolve the current dispute at the National Assembly.

Established on 18 April 2019, the tenth  Parliament saw the inauguration of its members and the election of the President and the First Vice-President of the Bureau of the Assembly, two positions won by PAIGC members with more than 90 votes each.

On the other hand, the vice-president was not chosen because the candidature of Brahima Camará, the leader of the Movement for the Democratic Change (Madem-G15), was rejected.

– APA