Politics of Guinea-Bissau: institutions, Constitution and elections

Politics of Guinea-Bissau: a transitional regime

The politics of Guinea-Bissau have been dominated since late November 2025 by a transition led by the military, after the seizure of power that overthrew President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. General Horta N'Tam, head of the transition, governs with a National Transitional Council and is preparing a return to civilian rule.

The institutions of the transition

Independent from Portugal since 1974, Guinea-Bissau has known many interruptions of constitutional life. President Embaló, in office since 2020, had dissolved the opposition-dominated National Assembly in December 2023 and had governed by decree since then.

In late November 2025, soldiers seized power a few days after the presidential and legislative vote, before the results were announced. A transition charter sets the length of the period at twelve months and bars General Horta N'Tam from standing for the presidency.

The National Transitional Council acts as the provisional legislative body. After talks held in early 2026 with ECOWAS, several detained opposition figures were released and the authorities promised a more inclusive transition.

The Constitution and the referendum

The National Transitional Council amended the Constitution and the electoral code, and voters then decided by referendum on 30 August 2026. According to the National Electoral Commission, chaired by Carmen Isaura Lobo, the yes vote won with about 70% of the votes cast. The result was announced on 1 September.

The new Constitution replaces the former system, in which the Prime Minister drawn from the parliamentary majority shared the executive with the head of state, with a strengthened presidential regime. The president can appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and the members of the government, and dissolve Parliament. The Prime Minister no longer has to come from the parliamentary majority.

Opponents and civil society organisations challenge the method, judged unilateral and lacking national consensus, while the authorities defend a reform meant to stabilise the institutions before the vote.

Elections expected

A decree read on national television on 21 January 2026 set the presidential and legislative elections for 6 December 2026. The date respects, according to the junta's spokesperson, the one-year period provided for by the transition charter.

The vote is to be held on the basis of the new Constitution, but in October 2026 the National Electoral Commission judged the technical conditions not to be in place for 6 December. Several political leaders have asked beforehand for the release of political detainees and a guarantee of public freedoms. The elected head of state would hold the wider powers provided for by the referendum.

Diplomacy and regional organisations

Guinea-Bissau is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries.

ECOWAS suspended the country from its decision-making bodies in late November 2025 and the African Union suspended it from all activities at the same time. ECOWAS sent a mission to the country and stated, in a communiqué of 29 June 2026, that the constitutional future is a sovereign decision for the country.