A coalition of opposition parties in Guinea-Bissau has secured a majority of seats in the country's parliament, the National People’s Assembly, in the legislative elections held on June 4, the national electoral commission has announced.
The remaining seats were scattered among three other parties. The Party for Social Renewal (PRS) won 12 seats, the Workers’ Party six seats and the Assembly of the People United one seat.
Over 20 political parties and coalitions vied for the parliament seats in a highly anticipated elections to fill Guinea-Bissau's national legislature after a 13-month absence. A hundred members were elected directly in multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote, while the remaining two from two single-seat overseas constituencies.
Under the nation's current political system, the majority party appoints government, including the prime minister. At the same time, the president has the power to dismiss it under certain circumstances.
In the past, this has led to political deadlocks, insecurity and infighting. The nation has repeatedly faced political instability, with military coups attempts to topple the government and contested election results.
Guinea-Bissau's President Embalo acknowledged the setback of his party in an address to the nation following an announcement of the election results, and congratulated the winning coalition.
"My party has failed. The people have punished it," he is quoted as saying by the media.
Embalo, a former army general, took office on February 28, 2020, after he was declared the winner of a December 2019 runoff election. In February 2022, he escaped a coup attempt when armed assailants attacked the government palace.
On May 16, 2022, the president dissolved the parliament and postponed the parliamentary election scheduled for the following December. He accused lawmakers of corruption, dubbing the legislature as a "space for guerrilla politics and plotting," while pointing at "unresolvable" differences between the parliament and other government branches.