The parliament of Guinea-Bissau has been dissolved following a decree issued by President Umarao Emballo.
This has however been tagged an illegal act by the Parliaiment Speaker, Domingos Simoes Pereira, who is also leader of the PAIGC, the party with the largest seats,
The dissolution follows last week’s gun battle in the capital, Bissau when soldiers from opposition camps faced off, at a time the president was attending the ongoing COP 28 in Dubai, where he alleged that he had survived an attempted coup.
In the decree dissolving the parliament, the president said state institutions could no longer function normally because of “complicity” between the national guard and “certain political interests”, and that fresh legislative elections will hold at a future date.
Several dozens of people were reported by Reuters News agency to have protested outside the parliament building over the president’s decision.
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe