Overview
- Voters cast ballots in a referendum on Sunday, August 30, 2026, to approve a constitution drafted by the National Transitional Council after November’s coup that would strengthen the president’s control over government.
- If approved, the text would let the president appoint and dismiss the prime minister and ministers, chair the Council of Ministers, create or abolish ministries, and dissolve parliament under certain conditions.
- The draft would shrink the National People’s Assembly from 102 to 65 seats, cut electoral constituencies from 29 to 12, and impose new candidacy rules including five years’ continuous residency, a 50 million CFA franc deposit, and party membership thresholds.
- The referendum was organised by the military-led transition while transitional leaders are barred from running in the December vote, and major opposition parties including PAIGC have urged a boycott saying the process lacks legitimacy.
- Guinea-Bissau’s recent history of coups, fragile institutions, widespread poverty, and drug-trafficking networks frames concerns that the change could either reduce chronic executive-parliamentary deadlock or entrench military-aligned power ahead of the scheduled December 6 elections.