Guinea Bissau sets poll date

2008-03-27 07:24

Bissau - The impoverished and unruly West African state of Guinea-Bissau will hold parliamentary elections on November 16, a presidential decree says.

The date was fixed after talks between leaders of the country's 35 political parties and President Joao Vieira, who on Tuesday had expressed concern about the political tensions in the country.

Vieira seized power in 1980 while he was head of the armed forces. He was toppled in 1999 after 19 years of iron-fisted rule and returned from exile to win the presidency as an independent in 2005.

Vieira, however, did not have majority support in parliament and the various party blocs had been arguing over the poll date, with some wanting it held at the end of the current parliamentary term in April.

Guinea-Bissau, which won independence from Portugal in 1974, was the world's fifth poorest nation, according to the United Nations, and Vieira pleaded for help to pay for the polls.

He said: "We are asking the international community to help the government's efforts to organise the legislative elections before the end of 2008. Without the help of its partners Guinea-Bissau will not be able to organise the poll."

The country's election commission had estimated the cost of the polls at $5.9m.

Through lack of cash and inadequate policing, Guinea-Bissau had also become a hub for international drug traffickers, which threatened the stability of West Africa, UN experts warned.

- AFP