Guinea-Bissau presidential election

Both candidates promise stability in election run-off

Article published on the 2009-07-26 Latest update 2009-07-29 11:17 TU

Kumba Yala (L) and Malam Bacai Sanha (R).
(Photo: Marie-Laure Josselin/RFI)

Both candidates in the second round of Guinea-Bissau's presidential election have promised to bring stability to a country plagued by coups, whose previous President was assassinated by soldiers.

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The face-off pitches Malam Bacai Sanha of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) against Kumba Yalla of the Social Renewal Party.

Both are former presidents. Sanha served as interim head of state in 1999-2000, while Yala was forced out by the army in 2003.

But both promise change. They say they want an end to the stability which has meant that none of the three presidents elected in the last 15 years has completed his term of office.

"We represent a new generation of politicians, for peace and democracy," Kumba Yalla told a rally Friday. "We are for stability,not for violence and revenge."

"If we win, we will reconstruct Guinea-Bissau with stability, development and democracy," Sanha told his supporters. "We need a stable, peaceful country."

The voters want peace, too.

"We are tired of assassinations, tired of them!" a woman told RFI's French service.

"The job is hard," said a young man. "We want peace and stability and we want the loser to accept the result."

As well as political turmoil, Guinea-Bissau has become a key transit point in cocaine smuggling between Latin American and Europe;

Both rounds of the election have been entirely financed by foreign countries.

Click here to view a slideshow of the election campaign, with commentary in French.