AU, ECOWAS Must Stand Up To Guinea-Bissau Plot Against Democracy – Jonathan

Former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has called on the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to take a firm stand against what he described as “a plot against democracy” in Guinea-Bissau, urging both bodies to publish the country’s latest presidential election results “as a matter of integrity.”

Jonathan, who spoke in Abuja yesterday following his return from Guinea-Bissau, where he monitored elections as a member of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, said the ongoing political crisis in the country was “deeply troubling” and reminiscent of its unstable past.

“What is happening now is like we are going back to the dark days of Guinea-Bissau, where the military think they can do whatever they want. It is totally unacceptable,” he said.

The former president explained that the recent elections in Guinea-Bissau were conducted peacefully and transparently, contrary to claims that irregularities had prompted a military takeover.

“The elections were done peacefully. I was part of the West African Elders Forum, we are normally not called observers, so we did not deploy observation tools across the country. But during the meeting of all the heads, they gave an account of everything. Nobody gave a different story; it was a good election, and one expected the results to be announced,” Jonathan stated.

He described the polls as “peaceful, well conducted and properly supervised,” adding that results from all nine regions had been collated and were ready for declaration when incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló suddenly announced a coup by the Army.

“When they were almost through and we were all waiting for the results to be announced, then Embaló announced that there was a coup, that they had taken over and arrested him,” Jonathan said. “But from all indications, nobody arrested him.”

Jonathan urged ECOWAS and the AU to act decisively by releasing the verified election results.

“My conviction is that—and my charge to ECOWAS and AU is that , they must announce the results,” he said. “They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were at all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results. They should tally all those results and announce them. They must announce, let the world know who won that election. They owe the world that responsibility.”

The former president also took aim at embattled President Embaló’s conduct during the crisis, expressing disappointment that a former ECOWAS chair and retired senior military officer could be associated with events that disrupted a democratic process.

“He should be the person that can prevent any coup in Guinea-Bissau. I don’t expect a coup that would remove him from office,” Jonathan said.

Jonathan further demanded the immediate release of opposition candidate Fernando Dias, who remained in detention, stressing that Dias “has not committed any offence.”

Speaking on Guinea-Bissau’s suspension from ECOWAS, Jonathan described the move as procedural. “That’s traditional,” he noted, adding that the regional body must, however, go beyond sanctions to safeguard democracy in the subregion.

The political tension in Guinea-Bissau escalated on Wednesday after military officers declared that they had taken “total control” of the country, suspended the electoral process, and closed the nation’s borders, just three days after legislative and presidential elections.

In a statement to the press, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, announced that “a command composed of all branches of the armed forces” was taking over leadership of the country “until further notice.”

Reports indicated that President Embaló, who was widely believed to be leading the polls, was arrested during the power shift. By Thursday, the military had appointed the army’s Chief of Staff, General Horta N’Tam, as the country’s new leader for a transitional period of one year.