Highly anticipated legislative election underway in Guinea-Bissau

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — An highly anticipated election to fill Guinea-Bissau’s national legislature is underway more than a year after the West African nation’s president dissolved parliament. The Centre for Democracy and Development, an African human rights organization, said nearly 1 million voters were registered to elect more than 100 lawmakers from six parties with active seats in the National People’s Assembly. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, a former army general, took office after he was declared the winner of a December 2019 runoff election. He survived a February 2022 coup attempt when assailants armed with machine guns and AK-47s attacked the government palace. He subsequently dissolved parliament and postponed the legislative elections scheduled for last December.