Opposition calls on government to resign

Less than five months after it was formed, the government of Prime Minister Faustino Imbali is facing a call by opposition parties for it to resign in the face of a corruption scandal. The call has come from an opposition forum of five parties. While the forum does not include the country’s main parties, it is far from being a negligible political force, a humanitarian source told IRIN. The scandal, which centres on the disappearance of US $15 million from the state’s coffers, and the resignation call compound the difficulties of a government which already finds it hard to fund its operations, including paying public servants, to whom it owes months’ salaries: another reason given by the forum for its call, issued last week, the source said. The Panafrican News Agency (PANA) reported that the forum made the call in a statement issued on Wednesday at a meeting it held on the situation in the country. It warned that the corruption scandal could undermine peace in the country. The parties also demanded the organisation of municipal elections by March 2002, “to complete the democratic process”, PANA reported. Imbali’s appointment in March followed weeks of uncertainty in Guinea-Bissau caused by calls for the resignation of his predecessor, Caetano Intchama, and disagreement between President Kumba Yala and members of his Partido da Renovacao Social (PRS-Social Renovation Party) over the choice of a new prime minister. The government includes opposition personalities who, in principle, serve in an individual capacity, not as representatives of their parties.