By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Cissoko Embalo has hinted that he is not nursingan intention to run for a second term in office in the November election.
Embalo who claimed to have survived two attempts in the coup-prone African country said his wife had dissuaded him from running again.
Elected in 2020, the 51-year-old leader succeeded the former President, Jose Mario Vaz after defeating his closest rival, Domingos Simoes Pereira with 54% of the vote.
The unexpected announcement at the end of a council of ministers meeting on Thursday could trigger a power vacuum and heighten political instability in the two million population.
He said his successor would not be Pereira nor two other opposition politicians, Braima Camara and Nuno Gomes Na Bian but could not elaborate.
Embalo, an ex-army General who served as Prime Minister under Vaz, inherited an age-long political division in a country where coups and unrest have been recurrent since independence from Portugal in 1974.
Embalo said the latest attempt to overthrow him took place in December 2023.
He dissolved parliament twice since he came to power.
Legislative elections that followed after the first time Embalo dissolved parliament, in May 2022, quashed his plans to push through a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system.
Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government.
The President however has the power to dismiss it in certain circumstances, which often leads to political deadlock and turmoil.
Heritage Times HT gathered that the country also emerged as a major cocaine trafficking hub in the 2000s. Last week, Police seized 2.63 tons of cocaine found on an airplane that arrived from Venezuela.
Africa ranks as one continent where leaders have been accused of illegally amending the constitution to stay in power more than legally allowed.
