| But I think we all saw this coming. |
BISSAU - Guinea-Bissauâs new President Joao Bernardo âNinoâ Vieira has sacked the government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, the presidentâs office said in a statement on Saturday.Vieira said on October 20 the coup-prone west African nation was facing a âdeep social, economic and political crisisâ after 14 of the ruling PAIGC partyâs 45 members of parliament split with the party. The rebel lawmakers aligned themselves two weeks ago with the main opposition Social Renovation Party (PRS) and the United Social Democratic Party (PUSD) to form the Convergence Forum for Development (CDF).
The CDF umbrella group is headed by the leader of the PUSD, Francisco Fadul, and is made up mostly of lawmakers who supported Vieira in the presidential election against the candidate of the PAIGC. The PRS has 35 seats in the 100-seat assembly while the PUSD has 17.
Vieira, who was overthrown in 1999 by the armed forces after 19 years of iron-fisted rule, said the crisis âseriously compromises the sustainability of the policies and strategies of governanceâ in the former Portuguese colony.
Gomes called the decision âregrettable and sadâ and said his African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) would meet at its headquarters to analyse the situation. âThe dismissal of the government will seriously penalize the country as we were preparing a national reconciliation conference which provided hope for Guinea-Bissau,â he told reporters.