Guinea-Bissau to hold delayed elections March 10: presidency

By AFP

Guinea

DEC 20, 2018 LISTEN

A woman casts her ballot to vote in the second round of the presidential election on May 18, 2014 in Guinea-Bissau; the country will hold a legislative election March 10, 2019. By SEYLLOU (AFP/File)

Guinea-Bissau will hold legislative elections in March -- four months after a vote was originally scheduled -- in an attempt to defuse a long-running crisis, the presidency said Thursday.

The former Portuguese colony, one of the world's poorest countries, has been locked in a political standoff since President Jose Mario Vaz sacked his premier in 2015.

A presidential decree said Thursday the election will be held on March 10, 2019, after it was delayed from November 18.

Under a deal brokered by Western African regional bloc ECOWAS in April, a consensus prime minister Aristide Gomes was named with the task of steering the country to a vote.

But the ballot was delayed by difficulties in drawing up an electoral list.

The UN and African neighbours have been urging Guinea-Bissau to hold the vote. The UN special representative for West Africa last month pressed the government to finally set an election date.