BISSAU, Aug. 16 — Guinea-Bissau’s transitional President Horta Inta-A has called on citizens to vote in favor of a new constitution in an Aug.
30 referendum, while denying that the process was intended to facilitate the return to power of former President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
Speaking at a meeting with traditional leaders in the capital Bissau on Saturday, Inta-A asked them to encourage local communities to participate actively in the referendum, saying the proposed constitution belonged to all citizens rather than any political party or individual.
“The referendum is not an undertaking of any party or political leader,” he said, rejecting suggestions that it was designed to benefit Embalo or opposition figures Domingos Simoes Pereira and Fernando Dias da Costa.
Voters will be asked whether they approve the entry into force of the new constitution adopted by the National Transitional Council.
The proposed charter would expand the powers of the president. The referendum comes after the military seized power on Nov.
26, 2025, suspended the electoral process, and replaced parliament with the National Transitional Council.
Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled for Dec. 6. Several opposition and civil society groups have criticized the constitution-making process as insufficiently inclusive and called for the referendum to be postponed or boycotted.
