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Guinea-Bissau - A new direction |
POLITICS
The country’s new leaders oversee the reforms promised by Mr Kumba Yala
In less than three months, new leaders have taken charge of the country. Their’s is the task of bringing about the basic reforms announced by Mr Kumba Yala, Guinea-Bissau’s new President. These are to include a new parliament, a President who has come from the Opposition, and a government made up of intellectuals most of whom have never had government responsibilities before.
The 28 November 1999 parliamentary elections resulted in eight political parties represented in parliament (as against five in the preceding parliament). The make-up of the new Parliament has changed: President Yala’s Social Renewal Party (PRS) has 38 members; the Guinea-Bissau Resistance (RGB) has 29 Members (this party also goes by the name of the Bafata Resistance Movement i.e. «The river is full and it must be crossed» in the local Mande language), and something new: The African Party for Independence in Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) which had ruled Guinea-Bissau since independence on 24 September 1973, is now in third position (with 24 Members). Three other parties each have three seats and two others have one seat each. Another striking feature: In this Parliament of 102 Members, no party has a majority, not even a simple majority. This is in sharp contrast to the previous Parliament which was to all intents and purposes, controlled by the PAIGC. So, in order to ensure that Mr Jorge Malu from the PRS could be elected Speaker, the PRS had to rely on support from the PAIGC, as Bafata was also after the same post for one of their own. Paradoxically, the PAIGC chose to keep out of government «so as to be in a position to criticize the government whenever necessary».
A broadly-based government
On 19 February, the PRS was able to form its government lead by Prime Minister Caetano N’Tchama. The government is made up of PRS Members plus Members from five other parties. There are fourteen Ministers and nine Secretaries of State.
Prime Minister Caetano N’Tchama is 45 years old and is the father of five children. He is a lawyer by profession with a law degree from the University of Lisbon. He did further studies in his chosen profession at the Centre for Legal Studies. He was then appointed judge at the Bissau Regional Court and was an observer at the presidential elections in Sao Tome e Principe. He became assistant to the chief investigator for the fight against corruption in Guinea-Bissau, before being appointed Minister in the February 1999 government of national unity.
The military junta still has a great deal to say in government affairs and some people think that the incoming prime minister is but a stooge for the military. It should be noted that Colonel Verissimo Correia Seabra who is number two in the junta is also Minister of National Defense. But most consider N’Tchama to be President Kumba Yala’s «man» because of his clear links with him.
In Guinea-Bissau. it’s the done thing to keep up friendly connections between people from different political groupings (as well as those who have different philosophical, ideological and religious convictions). An example of this is what happened after the presidential elections. Malam Bacai Sanha was the PAIGC‘s candidate (and as such, supported by the military junta). Once the second round of elections on 16 January had taken place and he had acknowledged defeat, he took great care to publicly congratulate the winner, Kumba Yala. A sure sign of Guinea-Bissau’s tolerance.
Another example: In September 1996, Mr Kumba Yala was making his presence felt in the Opposition. But he found time to say: «Nino Vieira (President of the Republic at that time) is my friend, but when there is an electoral campaign and elections in the offing, then he becomes my enemy». When Yala was elected President, Nino, now an exile in Portugal, sent him a telegram of congratulations.
Kumba Yala is also former prime minister Manuel Saturnino Da Costa’s friend. When Da Costa was both PM and the PAIGC‘s secretary-general, the talk was: «It’s Kumba who is stopping Da Costa from losing his job». In an 1996 interview with Da Costa in front of his home and in the presence of Da Costa’s wife, Kumba Yala said it was the Da Costas who had looked after things for his marriage; but, he added: «On the political level, I’m obliged to cross swords with Manuel».
In spite of all the atrocities committed at one time or another in Guinea-Bissau’s recent history, this spirit of tolerance has inspired Kumba Yala’s PRS party to take as its motto: «Freedom, openness, justice».
The day following the 1994 presidential elections which Kumba Yala doggedly claimed to have won, while the official results proclaiming Nino Vieira as victor were still being announced, Kumba Yala’s supporters wanted to organise demonstrations throughout the country which could only have ended in violence. Kumba Yala was having none of it and appealed to his supporters for a show of national unity and peace. He said: «I asked my supporters to accept the results imposed on us, so as to avoid any trouble in which the only victims will be the people. I was taken to task by my party’s leaders because of what I said, but a few weeks later they came back to tell me: “You saved us from civil war”, and they apologised to me».
A democratic President
Such is the individual who sometimes gives the impression of being a bit of a crackpot, maybe because of his philosophical training. But we forget he’s also studied law, political science...and theology.
Highly democratic in outlook, Kumba Yalo often suffered from it. In 1989, he was thrown out of the PAIGC (in spite of being in charge of party training since 1983), because he called for more democracy when it came to preparing party cadres and the nation’s future leaders. Today, he is still planning to consolidate democracy in Guinea-Bissau. During his investiture as President on 17 February, he declared: «We need to cultivate tolerance, and accept that we can have unity in diversity. All our country’s citizens will have their place in building up a new society».
On the same occasion, he pleaded for national unity, calling for: «Deep-rooted reforms in the way the country is run.» Without entering into details, he gave some pointers: «There must be respect for the State’s authority, for human rights, for the fight against injustice. Poverty, exclusion from society, corruption and impunity must be definitely “out”».
These «seven pillars» must constitute the framework for Guinea-Bissau’s renewal programme. During the previous administration there was corruption, regular violations of human rights, nepotism, favouritism, laxity, depravity, misappropriation of funds and public goods, monopolising of the national wealth by a minority. These days, most people are living in destitution, resulting in social, economic, cultural, moral and spiritual consequences.
A challenging task awaits the new government. It has a formidable mission to lift the nation from the decay in which it finds itself. Just over twenty-five years ago, having just emerged victorious from the war of independence from Portugal, people were full of hope for the new-born Guinea-Bissau with its many possibilities. May this hope become an established fact in the future.
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