Guinea-Bissau’s Electoral Commission Details Coordinated Attack, Creating Constitutional Crisis
BISSAU – The National Electoral Commission (CNE) of Guinea-Bissau has publicly detailed a targeted, armed assault on its headquarters that has rendered the body incapable of publishing results from the November 23rd presidential election, directly challenging the narrative of the country’s transitional military authorities and plunging the nation into a deeper constitutional crisis.
In a press conference that starkly contradicted recent government assurances, CNE officials described a methodical operation by hooded gunmen that destroyed the very infrastructure of democracy. The revelations expose a fundamental rift between the electoral institution and the transitional government led by outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, raising urgent questions about the path back to civilian rule.
The Anatomy of an Electoral Shutdown
According to Idriça Djalo, the CNE’s Deputy Executive Secretary, the attack on November 26th was not a chaotic raid but a precision strike. Approximately 45 people, including staff, party representatives, candidates, and five deputy attorney generals, were held captive for hours while the assailants executed a clear plan.
“The objective was strategic neutralization,” an analysis of the CNE’s testimony suggests. “The assailants didn’t just intimidate; they confiscated the original vote tally sheets from key regions and intercepted others en route to the capital. The physical erasure of the paper trail was compounded by the destruction of the computer system and the theft of the central server containing the national vote-counting software.”
This technical decapitation confirms the assessment of UN Special Representative Leonardo Santos Simão, who stated the Commission was “no longer technically capable” of its duty. The CNE now declares a “total impossibility” of concluding the electoral process, a direct rebuttal to transitional Foreign Minister João Bernardo Vieira’s Monday claim that result announcements were still feasible.
A Crisis of Conflicting Narratives and Regional Pressure
The CNE’s account creates two irreconcilable realities. The transitional authorities, led by General Horta N’Tam, frame their intervention as a necessary step to prevent wider violence and propose a one-year transition to be reviewed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Conversely, the electoral body’s testimony paints a picture of a deliberate sabotage of the democratic process. This discrepancy places ECOWAS, which has deployed a high-level mission led by Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, in a difficult mediating position. The regional bloc continues to call for a swift return to constitutional order, but its leverage depends on a unified factual understanding now absent on the ground.
Broader Implications: Detentions and Democratic Erosion
Beyond the electoral paralysis, the crisis is marked by concerning human rights and political dimensions. The ECOWAS mission was reportedly unable to access the CNE premises or obtain clear guarantees from military authorities about detained political figures. Key presidential candidate Fernando Dias da Costa remains sheltered in the Nigerian embassy, while his ally, Domingos Simões Pereira, is still detained.
“The attack on the CNE is not an isolated event,” notes a regional governance analyst. “It must be viewed alongside the detention of opposition figures and the establishment of a military-led transition. Together, they represent a systemic dismantling of the post-election civilian pathway, a pattern familiar in the region’s history of coups.”
The credibility of any future transition now hinges on addressing the CNE’s incapacitation. Can an election be re-run without an independent commission? Can a military-appointed government legitimately organize a new vote? These are the thorny questions ECOWAS leaders must grapple with at their scheduled December 14th summit.
This report is based on information from the primary source: Afrik.com.