Elections on track, diplomats say

There is no reason to delay Guinea-Bissau’s elections, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Nana Sinkam, told journalists in Bissau on Tuesday. “To postpone them would be to prolong the suffering of the people of Guinea-Bissau,” he said at a news conference held jointly with representatives of the European Union (EU) and Sweden. “The conditions for organising the elections have already been met and the resources are already available.” A humanitarian source in Bissau told IRIN that Tuesday’s news conference was held against the background of rumours that some members of the Military Junta that overthrew then president Joao Bernardo Vieira in May were against the holding of the polls. Nana-Sinkam dispelled the rumours. “I have met the top army officers and they confirmed that the army would remain keep out of the polls and go back to the barracks,” he said. EU Delegate Miguel Amado said the EU had already made the sum of US $5.5 million available for the first and second rounds of the election. The Netherlands has pledged US $500,000 and, according to news organisations, Japan has promised to provide US $5 million. Twelve candidates, including one woman and three independents are running for president, while 13 parties are vying for the 120 seats in the National Assembly. According to the Comissao Nacional de Eleicoes (National Election Commission) 499,152 persons - 90.6 percent of the estimated electorate - had registered by 28 September, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Action (OCHA) reported. Some 53.1 percent of the registered voters are women, including 150,459 who reported that they did not know how to write, OCHA said in its humanitarian situation report for 1-15 October. According to the UN Peace-Building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS), which Nana Sinkam heads, some 100 international observers will monitor the elections. The observers will spend two weeks in the country. Meanwhile, there was still some uncertainty about a proposed constitutional amendment requiring candidates for the presidency and other top state posts to have had parents born in Guinea-Bissau, OCHA reported. A media report that the National Assembly had cancelled the amendment was denied earlier this month by assembly member Mumine Embalo and former parliamentarian Salvador Tchongo, OCHA said.