Gambiaj.com – (BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau) – The leader of the National Unity Party (PUN), Idrissa Djaló, delivered one of the strongest indictments yet against Guinea-Bissau’s political establishment, declaring on Wednesday that the country’s politicians are “completely violent, corrupt, criminal, and destructive to the nation.” He argued that only a full-scale refounding of the Guinean state can end decades of instability.
Speaking to journalists in Bissau on December 10, Djaló said Guinea-Bissau’s political system has degenerated beyond reform and that elections alone cannot resolve the chronic turmoil that has defined the nation’s post-multiparty era.
“A Completely Criminal Political Class”
Djaló stated that he has spent years warning that the foundations of Guinea-Bissau’s political order are fundamentally compromised. He accused political leaders and state officials of perpetuating a system incapable of stability because “no state institution functions as it should, according to the country’s norms.”
He cited the recent electoral fallout as evidence of a system in collapse. The outgoing president—who contested the November 23 elections—was removed from office and is now in exile.
Another candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa, has disappeared from public view, while PAIGC leader Domingos Simões Pereira and several other prominent figures are detained.
“This scenario, and others that we may encounter in the future, few people, including myself, could have imagined,” Djaló said. “Therefore, the solution is to completely restructure the state.”
Accusations of Corruption and Elite Impunity
The PUN leader went further, accusing Guinea-Bissau’s political elite of siphoning public funds to finance lavish real estate projects abroad, particularly in France and Portugal.
The judiciary, he added, is also deeply implicated in the country’s governance failures, contributing to corruption rather than combating it.
“For years, public money has been stolen to build mansions and apartments abroad, yet no one has had the courage to confront this problem,” he said.
Djaló described the recent electoral campaign as one of the most dangerous in the country’s history, marked by “incitement to hatred and division” that could have pushed the country toward ethnic conflict.
Call for a National Overhaul
He urged the High Military Command for the Restoration of Security and Public Order, currently the de facto authority in the country, to create conditions for a national dialogue that would allow Guineans to address the root causes of the crisis.
According to Djaló, there is only one viable path forward: “The only solution at this moment necessarily involves refounding the Guinean state, building a new administration, a modern judicial system, defense and security forces configured in the national interest, and creating a political system that serves the interests of Guinea-Bissau.”
With the political landscape fractured and institutions weakened, Djaló’s comments reflect growing calls within Guinea-Bissau for a comprehensive reset of the state, rather than yet another attempt at piecemeal reforms.
