Gambiaj.com – (BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau) – The United Nations representative for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Simão, has confirmed that Guinea-Bissau’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) is unable to publish provisional results from the country’s general, presidential, and legislative elections, citing missing documentation essential to completing the tally.
Speaking to reporters after a high-level ECOWAS mission met with Guinean authorities on Tuesday, Simão said the regional bloc had formally requested the publication of the election results, but the CNE reported it was not in a technical position to do so.
“The delegation met with the National Electoral Commission to find out if they would be able to release the results, but they said they are not able to do so because they have not received all the minutes of the electoral process,” said Simão, a former Mozambican foreign minister who heads the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel. “Therefore, they are not technically in a position to release the election results.”
The ECOWAS delegation, led by Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio in his capacity as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, traveled to Bissau to convey the bloc’s position on the unfolding political crisis and to hear directly from the country’s new military authorities.
Simão said the delegation’s mandate is to gather facts and produce a report that will be submitted to regional heads of state, who will determine ECOWAS’s next steps. The mission, he emphasized, sought clarity from the military about the circumstances that led to the abrupt interruption of the electoral process.
“The military explained that there was a huge risk of conflict resulting from these elections, and what they did was to halt the electoral process so that a larger conflict would not take place,” he revealed.
According to Simão, Guinea-Bissau’s new authorities informed the delegation that they had established a one-year transition period during which they intend to implement pending national reforms.
The detention of several political figures was also addressed, as ECOWAS had demanded their release. Simão noted that the military leadership stated they would communicate with ECOWAS on a “case-by-case basis” regarding the circumstances of each arrest and the measures they plan to take.
Reiterating the CNE’s position, the UN envoy said the electoral body still lacks the necessary documentation to publish results from the November 23 vote. “The CNE informed us that it did not have the conditions to release the results because it did not receive all the minutes of the electoral process,” he stressed.
The situation marks a deepening of Guinea-Bissau’s political uncertainty, as regional and international actors continue pressing for clarity, transparency, and a swift return to constitutional order.
