Bishops appeal for action to salvage the country

Two Catholic bishops in Guinea-Bissau have appealed to politicians in the West African country to take urgent steps to "salvage the nation from plunging into an abyss". In a statement published by the Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA) on Friday, the Bishop of Bissau, Jose Camnate Na Bissign, and his Bafata counterpart, Pedro Carlos Zilli, said the first emergency to be confronted in Guinea-Bissau was political crisis. "If not resolved, the clouds of a new internal conflict will quickly collect", they warned. They said the country also faced hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, illiteracy, deterioration in health and other public sectors, rampant corruption and an increase in crime. The situation, they said, was leading to great discontent, disillusion and discomfort among people. "At the end of the war in 1998-'99 we all believed that reconciliation in the nation was possible and, with international aid and foreign investments, it would be possible to reach a satisfactory economic level, entering in a phase of real development. But this never occurred," the prelates said. They blamed the current situation on a lack of government action, frequent leadership changes and a succession of ministers and judges, failure to draft a new constitution approved by the national assembly, and human rights violations, among other factors. The bishops recommended, among other things: a restoration of the law of rights, whereby the "legislative, executive and judiciary powers operate in solidarity but independently". Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, became independent in 1974. A civil war from June 1998 to May 1999 resulted in the overthrow of President Joao Bernardo Vieira, caused thousands of deaths and displaced some 300,000 of a population in the region of 1.2 million people. A military junta ruled the West African state, together with handpicked civilians, until presidential and parliamentary elections in late 1999 and early 2000. President Kumba Yala won the polls but his party failed to obtain a majority in parliament. Since then, the country has been wracked by crises, including a rebellion by members of the former military junta on 22 and 23 November 2000 - described by the government as a coup attempt - and another alleged attempt to overthrow Yala on 3 December 2001. There were also accusations of another attempt in May this year. Yala has dismissed several officials in his government in recent months. On 27 August, Yala and Prime Minister Alamara Nhasse met to try and ease political tension that had built up between them.