>From: Fye Samateh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: FWD:Army Ousts President Who Kept Delaying Elections >Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:06:58 +0200 > >Habib & Momodou. > > >Yala deserves to be ousted he was one of the useless African leaders in our region. >Always there for his interest not the people he represent.Yaya should learn his lessons >from this coz time is running out for him too. > > >Niamo. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Habib Ghanim > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 3:48 PM > Subject: Re: FWD:Army Ousts President Who Kept Delaying Elections > > > Kumba Yala's red hat did not save him this time. I am glad it was a bloodless coup. who knows he might seek refuge in The Gambia > > > > >From: Momodou Camara > >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: FWD:Army Ousts President Who Kept Delaying Elections > >Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:02:29 -0500 > > > >Army Ousts President Who Kept Delaying Elections > > > >UN Integrated Regional Information Networks > >NEWS > >September 14, 2003 > >Posted to the web September 15, 2003 > >Bissau > > > >President Kumba Yala of Guinea-Bissau was desposed by the army in a > >bloodless coup on Sunday after delaying parliamentary elections in this > >small West African state for nearly a year and leaving civil servants and > >soldiers unpaid for several months. > > > >Although the former teacher was elected president with 72 percent of the > >vote in what was generally regarded as a free and fair poll in early 2000, > >his one-time supporters became increasingly disenchanted with his erratic > >style of government. > > > >Kumba Yala dissolved parliament in November last year after it passed a > >vote of no confidence against him. Then he delayed four times the election > >of a new legislature. The last straw may have come on Friday, when the > >National Electoral Commission announced that it would not be able to > >complete voter registration in time for the latest proposed election date > >of 12 October. > > > >Kumba Yala, 49, was desposed in a pre-dawn coup by a military junta headed > >by the army chief of staff, General Verissimo Correia Seabra. The military > >chief pledged to form a broad-based government including all the main > >political parties in this former Portuguese colony of 1.3 million people. > > > >Correia Seabra, who played a leading role in two previous successful coups, > >said in a statement broadcast over local radio stations that civilian rule > >would be restored through the holding of fresh elections at an unspecified > >point in the future. > > > >Kumba Yala and his prime minister, Mario Pires, were taken into military > >custody, apparently without resistance, and the mood in the capital Bissau > >remained calm and relaxed, despite the announcement of a dusk to dawn > >curfew. > > > >Correia Seabra said publicly in May that the army had no plans to intervene > >again in the politics of this former Portuguese colony, which won > >independence in 1974 after a long and bitter guerrilla war. > > > >However, the 52-year-old army chief is no stranger to coups. He backed the > >overthrow of Guinea-Bissau's first president Luis Cabral in November 1980 > >and was a leading figure in the 1998 mutiny that eventually led to the > >departure of Cabral's successor, Nino Vieira after a year-long civil war > > > >But this time, Correia Seabra, a veteran of the liberation struggle against > >Portugal, has stepped out of the shadows, to take power himself at the head > >of a Committee for the Restoration of Constitutional Order and Democracy. > > > >He appears to have taken power reluctantly. Diplomats in Bissau said > >Correia Seabra had warned Kumba Yala repeatedly in recent months that the > >army would be forced to intervene if the president failed to put his > >chaotic and near bankrupt government in order. > > > >Kumba Yala, who like most of the army's top brass belongs to the country's > >dominant Balante tribe, managed to put down at least one previous coup > >attempt. But he was unable to stop this one after alienating most of his > >former allies. > > > >"I can't say this publicly, but it would be a good thing if Kumba Yala was > >overthrown", a senior opposition politician told IRIN privately last month. > > > >Kumba Yala himself protested publicly about several alleged coup plots > >against him during his three years in office, but diplomats and opposition > >politicians said most of these were largely fictitious. They accused the > >embattled of head of state of inventing conspiracies to glean sympathy > >abroad while providing a pretext for clamping down on his enemies at home. > > > >But this time the coup was for real. Kumba Yala was arrested and taken to > >military headquarters at around three am local time and and five hours > >later, the coup was announced in a communiqué read out on the independent > >radio station, Radio Bombolom. > > > >This denounced the "incapacity" of Kumba Yala's government to resolve > >Guinea-Bissau's profound economic problems and find a way out of the > >country's political crisis. The communique said the army had tried > >repeatedly to alert the authorities to the danger the country was in and > >its "closeness to civil war". > > > >Pires, the prime minister, told a recent political meeting that Guinea- > >Bissau would be plunged into a fresh civil war if the opposition won next > >month's now suspended parliamentary elections. > > > >Troops were deployed on the streets of Bissau and private cars were banned > >from the streets, but otherwise civilians were allowed to move around > >freely. There were no reports of gunfire or civil disorder, although Radio > >France Internationale reported that Kumba Yala's residence had been looted > >by men in military uniform. > > > >Correia Seabra said in an interview with Portuguese State Television (RTP) > >that Kumba Yala had carried out arbitrary arrests and had fomented division > >in the country, while disregarding the constitution. > > > >He also accused the deposed head of state of preparing to rig the 12 > >October parliamentary elections in favour of his Social Renovation Party > >(PRS). > > > >In a subsequent interview with Portuguese state radio (RDP), Correia Seabra > >said he would only remain head of state until the holding of fresh > >elections "when appropriate conditions have been created." He declined to > >give a firm date. > > > >Correia Seabra said the army was aware that any coup against Kumba Yala, > >who was elected with 72 percent of the vote, would trigger international > >condemnation, But he said military intervention had become inevitable. "We > >were clearly aware that the international community would have never agreed > >to a coup d'etat under any circumstance, but unfortunately we did not have > >another option, another alternative"; he told RDP. > > > >Portugal expressed regret at the coup and issued a statement urging "those > >behind it to return constitutional legality to the country immediately". > > > >A foreign ministry spokesman in Lisbon said the Community of Portuguese- > >Speaking Countries (CPLP), which includes Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape > >Verde, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor, would meet on Monday to > >analyse the situation. > > > >Cape Verde with which Guinea Bissau has traditionally had close ties, > >offered to mediate. President Pedro Pires said his island state 450 km west > >of Senegal was "ready to help Guinea-Bissau adapt good and credible > >democratic institutions". > > > >Mozambique's President, Joaquim Chissano, who is currently President of the > >African Union (AU), unequivocally condemned the coup. He urged the new > >military leaders to hold immediate talks with the Economic Community of > >West African States (Ecowas) "to find the best solution to restore > >constitutional order". > > > >Nigeria, often seen as the dominant power in ECOWAS, came out strongly > >against the coup. The Nigerian government, which played a leading role in > >restoring Fradique de Menezes to power in Sao Tome, a week after he was > >ousted by a military coup in July, said that, together with ECOWAS, it > >was "determined to resist the unconstitutional change of government". > > > >But despite the international chorus of disapproval directed against the > >coup-makers, there is unlikely to be much sympathy for Kumba Yala at home. > > > >The ousted president has been widely identified as the main culprit for > >Guinea-Bissau's political and economic malaise, antagonising the country's > >political class, engaging in clumsy stand-offs with the media, the > >judiciary and foreign donors. > > > >Kumba Yala, who was known for his trademark red woolen bobble hat, began > >his political carreer as an ideologue of the African Party for the > >Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), the guerrilla > >movement which fought Portuguese colonial rule and came to power at > >independence. > > > >However, he subsequently quit the PAIGC and stood as the main opposition > >presidential candidate against Nino Vieira in Guinea-Bissau's first > >multiparty elections in 1994. He was defeated by Vieira on that occasion, > >but won an overwhelming majority at the next poll in 2000. > > > >Despite promising to act as a unifier and healer, Kumba Yala was frequently > >accused of openly favouring his own Balante people, the largest ethnic > >group in the country. > > > >But the charge-sheet went well beyond that. He was widely accused of > >wrecking Guinea-Bissau's fragile social system, presiding over the collapse > >of state education and provoking an endless series of public sector strikes > >by unpaid civil servants. > > > >Kumba Yala was unable to retain the loyalty of ministers for long. There > >were constant cabinet reshuffles and Pires was his fourth prime minister in > >less than three years. > > > >Unexpected ministerial sackings became the norm. Last week Kumba Yala fired > >his latest information minister after he had been in office for less than > >two months. Radio stations and newspapers suffered constant harassment > >under his rule. > > > >Such constant changes exasperated donors and the World Bank and > >International Monetary Fund (IMF) found it difficult to build up lasting > >relationships with key ministries. > > > >Kumba Yala's dismissal of the head of the supreme court and two other > >judges on the panel in September 2001 also provoked strong criticism > >abroad. The three judges have yet to be replaced. > > > >Even the United Nations signalled its concern about developments in Guinea- > >Bissau. > > > >The postponement of legislative elections, originally scheduled for > >February, then April and then July, provoked a series of warnings from New > >York. A report issued by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on June 9 > >observed: "the overall situation in Guinea-Bissau has not improved. In > >fact, it has worsened. Amidst political and institutional instability, > >electoral uncertainty has continued to generate tensions". > > > >David Stephen, the UN chief representative in Guinea-Bissau, told IRIN last > >month that the holding of free and fair elections on 12 October would be > >crucial to breaking the country's isolation and restoring Kumba Yala's > >credibility. > > > >But as the National Electoral Commission made clear on Friday, he could not > >even deliver that. > > > > > > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Copyright © 2003 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. All rights > >reserved. 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