The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) reported today that a group of armed and hooded men invaded its headquarters in Bissau, attacking leaders and employees present there.
According to “internal reports” collected by the party, this situation “is currently occurring at its national headquarters” and “represents a serious threat to the physical integrity of party members”, as well as an “attack on stability, democracy and the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau”, said in a statement the secretariat of the Platform of Presidents of Political Commissions in the Diaspora Europe, America of PAIGC.
In a message sent to the Lusa agency, PAIGC spokesperson, Muniro Conte, said that Rapid Intervention Police (PIR) assaulted the party’s headquarters, expelling everyone who was there. According to the official, the objective is “to introduce weapons [no local] and then accuse the party.”
In the note sent to the media, PAIGC “strongly condemned any act of political violence” and called on national authorities “to act immediately to guarantee the safety of all citizens present at the party headquarters” and to “clarify the situation of its leader”, Domingos Simões Pereira, who has been detained since November 22nd.
The party also appealed to the international community “to closely monitor these events and support all efforts aimed at preserving democratic legality” and to the population to “maintain serenity, rejecting any form of provocation or escalation of violence”.
“The PAIGC reaffirms its unshakable commitment to peace, democracy and dialogue, and hopes that those responsible for these facts are identified and held accountable”, says the same note.
A group of military personnel announced on Wednesday that they had taken power in Guinea-Bissau and had removed the President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who had meanwhile traveled to Senegal.
The military junta appointed General Horta Inta-A as transitional president for a period of one year and suspended him from the electoral process on the eve of the release of the results of the general elections on November 23.
The elections, which took place without any incidents, were held without the participation of the main opposition party, PAIGC, and its candidate, Domingos Simões Pereira, excluded from the electoral race and who declared support for the opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa.
Simões Pereira was detained after the military junta’s announcement.
The opposition, which claimed victory in the presidential elections, denounces the military intervention as a maneuver orchestrated by the outgoing President to stop the dissemination of the election results.
The African Union announced today that it “immediately” suspended Guinea-Bissau until constitutional order is reestablished.