The ruling party in Guinea-Bissau, PAIGC – the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, has emerged victorious after Sunday’s polls.
The people of Guinea-Bissau thronged polling stations on March 10, with a hope to bring about change in the country and bring an end to the stalemate in parliament which has lasted for the last four years. This occurred after President Jose Mario Vaz sacked Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira and although he has appointed various prime ministers since then, none has managed to secure enough support to maintain a parliamentary majority.
Guinea-Bissau has had a reputation of being one of West Africa’s most volatile states and in a period of 45 years, since independence, it has had 16 coup attempts.
According to the National Elections Commission of Guinea-Bissau, the party won 42 out of 102 seats but despite this, it will still need to work with other parties to secure a majority, otherwise it will be unable to form a government without a deal.
The party has continually dominated politics in Guinea-Bissau since the country gained independence in 1974. The other two major parties are the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) and the newer PAIGC breakaway party, Movement for Democratic Change (MADEM), currently led by the president.
These two parties won 27 and 21 seats respectively.
