Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Embaló, has announced he will not run for a second term.
Speaking to the press after a Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, Embaló, 51, revealed that the decision came after a discussion with his wife.
“A few days ago, I was talking to my wife on the plane, and she told me that I would not run for a second term. I asked her why, and she told me that I do not deserve all the situations being fabricated against me,” the ex-army general said. “Yesterday, Tuesday, I told her I would not run for my second term.”
The president’s term is set to end in 2025. Legislative elections are scheduled for November 24, 2024, though the date for the next presidential election has not been set.
Embaló, who took office in 2020 after a disputed election, also ruled out several rival politicians as potential successors. He asserted that neither his closest opposition, Domingos Pereira, Nuno Nabiam, nor Braima Camará, would replace him, stating that Guinea-Bissau needs better-prepared leaders than current political figures.
Embaló defeated Pereira with 54 per cent of the votes in the 2020 presidential election. Before that, he served as prime minister under the erstwhile president of Guinea-Bissau, Jose Vaz. Since assuming the presidential position, Embaló said there have been two attempts to overthrow him, the latest happening in December last year.
When asked about the recent seizure of 2,633 kilogrammes of drugs at Bissau’s international airport, Embaló declined to comment. He instead told the press to ask him about his recent diplomatic visits to China, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates.
“This is more important than these drug seizure theatres.”
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