Guinea-Bissau president dissolves govt after row with Prime Minister

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau – After a row with the prime minister, the President of Guinea-Bissau, Jose Mario Vaz has dismissed the government by issuing a presidential decree.

This development came after the president of the West African country with an estimated population of 1.7million acknowledged a “crisis” in relations with the prime minister.

The president declared that the “crisis” was undermining the functioning of the government in the country.

In his decree, he said, “the government headed by Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira has been dissolved.

It is public knowledge that there is a crisis undermining the proper working of institutions.

The efforts made did not succeed in resolving difficult relations between the president and the prime minister,” ” Vaz said in a broadcast to the nation.

The president said that a government reshuffle would have been inadequate, and contentious issues included the appointment of a new armed forces chief, as well as corruption, are the main reasons for the decree.

Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since independence from Portugal in 1973, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term in a country already in the grip of powerful cocaine cartels and beset by political violence.

US drug enforcement officials see the country as a “narco-state” and several senior military officials have been charged by the United States with drug trafficking.
The recent 16-member government took office in July 2014, two months after Vaz was elected.

Vaz and Pereira are both members of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which fought for independence from Portugal, won and declared in 1973, but recognised and became effective in 1974.