Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló declared in an announcement on September 11, 2024, he would not seek a second term in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for November 2025. This decision, which comes just two months before the vote, adds to the political uncertainty in the West African nation.
Embaló, who took office in 2020, has faced a turbulent presidency marked by two attempted coups, the most recent occurring in mid-2023. Guinea-Bissau, long plagued by political instability, has witnessed multiple coups since gaining independence in 1974.
The president did not provide detailed reasons for his decision to step down, merely stating that it was at the request of his wife. During his tenure, Embaló twice dissolved the country’s Parliament, but struggled to gain a majority to push through significant reforms, including a proposed constitutional change aimed at revising the semi-presidential system.
While declining to name a potential successor, he ruled out his main political rivals, Domingos Simões Pereira, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, and Braima Camara, stating, “None of them will replace me.”
In an interview to magazine JA, Emballo said he did not exclude reconsidering his decision.