BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau – Voters in Guinea-Bissau have approved a new constitution that significantly expands presidential powers and reshapes the country’s legislative structure ahead of general elections scheduled for later this year, according to provisional referendum results announced by the National Electoral Commission on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
The constitutional referendum, organized by the military junta that seized control of the West African nation in November 2025 following a contested election, secured 70 percent voter approval compared to 30 percent opposed, with the electoral commission reporting voter turnout at nearly 60 percent following Sunday’s balloting.
Okay News reports that the approved constitutional reforms alter the delicate institutional balance of Guinea-Bissau’s traditional semi-presidential model, shifting decisive executive authority from the prime minister directly to the presidency.
Under the new charter, the president is granted sweeping prerogatives to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet ministers, create or abolish government ministries, and unilaterally dissolve parliament in the event of a grave political crisis.
Previously, Guinea-Bissau’s legislature selected the prime minister from the parliamentary majority, who then formed a cabinet. Military authorities argued that the dual-executive arrangement had fostered perpetual institutional deadlock, governance paralysis, and systemic volatility in a country that has endured at least nine successful and attempted coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974.
While the revised text retains the standard five-year presidential term and two-term limit, it drastically streamlines legislative representation, reducing the total seats in the National People’s Assembly from 102 to 65 and shrinking electoral constituencies from 29 to 12. The charter also introduces stricter eligibility thresholds for presidential contenders, including a prerequisite requiring candidates to have maintained continuous residency in Guinea-Bissau for at least five years preceding an election.
The referendum faced fierce resistance and a total boycott from the main opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which urged its electorate to stay away from the polls.
PAIGC leader Domingos Simões Pereira warned that the changes risk creating an imperial presidency devoid of statutory checks and balances, accusing the military authorities of seeking to dismantle democratic freedoms, while civic monitoring groups contested the commission’s official participation figures, claiming voter abstention reached as high as 90 percent in key urban centres.
The junta took power in November 2025 amidst violent electoral disputes between then-President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias, claiming intervention was necessary to foil a destabilization plot orchestrated by political figures linked to transnational drug trafficking networks in a nation long designated by the United Nations as a key transatlantic narcotics transit corridor.
The promulgation of the new constitution sets the legal foundation for presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 2026, which will serve as a crucial benchmark for the junta’s pledged transition back to civilian constitutional rule.
