Guinea-Bissau voters back presidential powers in referendum

Voters in Guinea-Bissau have approved a new constitution that expands presidential powers and reshapes electoral rules, provisional results showed on Tuesday.

The referendum, held on Sunday in the military-run West African country, passed with 70% of votes in favour and 30% opposed, according to the National Electoral Commission. The commission said 544,060 people voted, representing about 60% of registered voters.

The new constitution allows the president to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet, create or abolish ministries, and dissolve parliament in the event of a grave political crisis. Under the current system, parliament names a prime minister who appoints a cabinet.

The reforms also cut the size of parliament to 65 seats from 102 and reduced electoral constituencies to 12 from 29. Presidential candidates will now be required to have lived continuously in Guinea-Bissau for the preceding five years.
The result gives the military government backing to reshape the political system before a presidential election scheduled for December. However, the main opposition party boycotted the vote.

The changes come less than 10 months after the military seized power in the impoverished Portuguese-speaking country. Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest nations, has experienced five coups and a series of attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

SOURCE: AFP