Guinea-Bissau president sacks prime minister, names replacement

Guinea-Bissau President, Umaro Embalo

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Embalo, has dismissed Geraldo Martins as the Prime Minister, a week after his reappointment and appointed former Prime Minister, Rui Duarte de Barros, in his place.

Embalo dissolved Guinea-Bissau’s parliament days after what he said was a foiled coup on December 1, accusing the government of passivity in response to the clashes.

The Guinea-Bissau president then reappointed Martins as prime minister on December 12.

The presidential decrees did not provide a reason for sacking Martins, who is a member of the former ruling PAIGC party which now leads the main opposition coalition.

Sources close to the matter told Reuters that the prime minister and the president were at odds.

De Barros previously worked as the West African country’s minister of economy and finance and as a commissioner at the West African Economic and Monetary Union, before serving as prime minister in a transitional government between 2012 and 2014.

Guinea-Bissau has often been in political turmoil and has seen several coups since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Police fired tear gas last week to disperse opposition members of parliament who had tried to convene in defiance of Embalo’s decision to dissolve the house.

A date for new legislative elections has not yet been set.

The Star