Guinea-Bissau’s new military ruler moves to consolidate power after coup

General Horta Inta-A appoints caller premier curate amid increasing condemnation of subject coup successful West African nation.

Guinea-Bissau’s caller subject ruler has moved to consolidate powerfulness days aft a coup deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

In a decree connected Friday, General Horta Inta-A announced the assignment of Finance Minister Ilidio Vieira Te arsenic the West African country’s caller premier minister.

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The radical of Guinea-Bissau “expect a lot” of their caller leaders, Inta-A told Te during a little swearing-in ceremony, saying helium hoped the caller subject government and the premier curate would “continue to enactment hand-in-hand”.

Both Inta-A – who was sworn successful arsenic Guinea-Bissau’s transitional president connected Thursday – and Te are adjacent to Embalo, the deposed president.

Te antecedently served successful his authorities and arsenic the run manager for Embalo’s enactment successful past Sunday’s statesmanlike election.

Friday’s announcement comes conscionable days aft military officers said they had taken “total control” of the state during a televised code connected the eve of the expected merchandise of provisional predetermination results.

Embalo had been seeking re-election against his main challenger, Fernando Dias. Both candidates had declared triumph successful beforehand of the results, which person inactive not been released.

Regional and satellite leaders person condemned the subject coup, 1 of respective successful Guinea-Bissau since it gained independency from Portugal successful 1974.

The African Union announced connected Friday it was suspending Guinea-Bissau “with contiguous effect”, soon aft the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) froze Guinea-Bissau retired of “all decision-making bodies”.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres besides condemned the military’s “unacceptable usurpation of antiauthoritarian principles” portion the European Union urged “a swift instrumentality to the law bid and the resumption of the electoral process”.

The premier curate of Senegal, wherever Embalo has taken refuge since the coup, condemned the putsch arsenic a “sham” and called for the electoral process to beryllium allowed to continue.

“The [electoral] committee indispensable beryllium capable to state the winner,” Ousmane Sonko told lawmakers connected Friday.

Dias, the absorption candidate, told the AFP quality bureau connected Thursday that helium believed helium had beaten Embalo successful Sunday’s statesmanlike election. He alleged that Embalo had “organised” the powerfulness drawback to forestall him from taking office.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who was successful Guinea-Bissau during the coup arsenic the caput of a West African elections perceiver group, besides accused Embalo of staging a “ceremonial coup” to enactment successful power.

“A subject doesn’t instrumentality implicit governments and let the sitting president that they overthrew to code property conferences and denote that helium has been arrested,” Jonathan told reporters.

Te, left, and Inta-A shingle hands during the caller premier minister’s swearing-in ceremonial successful Bissau [AFP]

Calm returns to capital

UN quality rights main Volker Turk said connected Friday that astatine slightest 18 people, including authorities officers, magistrates and absorption politicians, had been arbitrarily detained during the coup, and astir were inactive being held incommunicado.

“I americium profoundly alarmed by reports of quality rights violations successful Guinea-Bissau pursuing the coup, including arbitrary arrests and detentions of Government officials and absorption leaders, arsenic good arsenic threats against and intimidation of media houses and journalists,” Turk said successful a statement.

He called for the contiguous merchandise of each those detained, arsenic good arsenic for the instrumentality of law order.

“The subject authorities indispensable guarantee they afloat respect everyone’s cardinal freedoms, including the close to peaceful assembly,” Turk added.

Meanwhile, calm returned to the capital, Bissau, connected Friday arsenic the caller subject rulers lifted an overnight curfew that had been imposed during the coup.

People and vehicles were circulating done Bissau’s streets aft service checkpoints were lifted. The main banal speech and markets successful outlying districts, arsenic good arsenic commercialized banks, person besides reopened.

“I resumed my enactment due to the fact that if I enactment home, I volition person thing to eat,” Boubacar Embalo, a 25-year-old thoroughfare vendor, told the quality bureau AFP.