Guinea-Bissau votes in a constitutional referendum

Voters in Guinea-Bissau cast their ballots on Sunday in a referendum that could give the president more powers, ahead of a general election meant to restore civilian rule later this year.

Voting got off to a slow start in some neighbourhoods when polls opened at 0700 GMT, after a heavy early morning downpour. Security was stepped up at strategic points in the capital, with members of the national guard and the police stationed at key locations. The referendum comes less than 10 months after a coup in which the military seized power in the impoverished Portuguese-speaking West African country.

The ruling junta has unanimously approved a constitutional amendment for the country to switch from a presidential system to a parliamentary one. Shopkeeper Halimatou Traore said she hoped the new constitution would bring positive changes. “The successive crises the country has gone through have had a very negative impact on my earnings. If everything goes well, Guinea-Bissau will set off on new paths,” she said.

Braima Seidy, 76, a veteran of the war of independence against Portugal, emerged smiling from the polling booth. “I truly believe that this new Constitution can bring stability to the country,” he said.

The junta says the change seeks to stabilise institutions before new presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 6. But the political climate is tense, with the opposition urging voters to boycott the referendum “in a context of restrictions on public freedoms”.

The new text proposes abandoning the old system whereby the prime minister came from the parliamentary majority. It would allow the head of state to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and members of the government, and to dissolve parliament.

Voting closes at 1700 GMT, with the first provisional results due on Tuesday.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has experienced five coups and a series of attempted coups since 1974.

SOURCE: AFP