Guinea-Bissau: Constitution Referendum Set for August
Voters in Guinea-Bissau will head to the polls on August 30 to decide on a controversial new constitution that seeks to consolidate executive power. The date was finalized today via a presidential decree in Bissau.
A Pivotal Vote Under Military Rule
The referendum asks a single, high-stakes question: “Do you agree with the entry into force of the new Constitution of the Republic approved by the National Transition Council?” Citizens will have the choice to vote “yes” or “no.”
The decree, signed by Transitional President Horta Inta-a, confirms that the Supreme Court of Justice has issued a favorable opinion to proceed with the vote. President Inta-a justified the move as an exercise in “universal, direct, secret, and personal suffrage,” allowing the public to weigh in on the changes proposed by the transitional government.
Shift Toward Presidential Power
The constitutional overhaul follows a military takeover on November 26, 2025. Following the coup, the military dissolved parliament and replaced it with a National Transition Council. One of the junta’s immediate priorities was redrafting the nation’s founding document—specifically to grant significantly more authority to the President of the Republic.
The referendum is scheduled just three months before general, presidential, and legislative elections, which are currently slated for December 6, 2026.
Political Turmoil and Opposition Outcry
The move toward a new constitution is set against a backdrop of severe political instability. Guinea-Bissau held elections on November 23, 2025, but those polls were abruptly halted and the results suppressed when the military seized power.
Opposition leaders have slammed the takeover as a “palace coup” and a “staged event” designed to benefit former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa, backed by the historic African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), had claimed victory in the first round before the military intervention. For the first time in the country’s history, a court decision had barred the PAIGC from participating in those elections.
The political crackdown remains intense. Domingos Simões Pereira, the leader of the PAIGC and a primary critic of the current regime, was detained during the November coup. He remains under house arrest while facing investigation by a military court for an alleged attempted coup in October 2025.
Reporting Restrictions
International media presence remains restricted in the country. The Lusa news agency delegation in Guinea-Bissau has been suspended since August following the government’s expulsion of Portuguese media representatives; reporting is currently being conducted remotely.
Image: Pexels – Sora Shimazaki
