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Five Guinea-Bissau presidential hopefuls condemn coup
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Five candidates who took part in Guinea-Bissau's aborted presidential election, including top opposition leader Kumba Yala, on Monday condemned last week's military coup."We firmly condemn the April 12 military uprising and demand the quick return of constitutional order," said ex-president Yala, who came second in first-round presidential voting on March 18 behind then-prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior, who is currently being held by the coup leaders. All five rejected the result of the first round, including Henrique Rosa, who said none of them would participate in the National Transitional Council that the military and some opposition parties announced would lead the country after the coup. "We are democrats. As a matter of ethics and political coherence, we will not participate in the NTC," Rosa told journalists. The coup came two weeks before the second round of the presidential vote, which would have seen Gomes Junior face off against Yala. Yala, who said there had been "massive fraud" in the first round, and four other candidates had already said they would not take part in the second round. The boycott had raised fears of unrest in the country of 1.6 million people, which has a history of military coups and has become a hub in the drug trade between South America and Europe. The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) had voiced concern after the coup that the five candidates who boycotted the polls may have played a part in overthrowing the government, saying they should be prosecuted by the  International Criminal Court... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... if their involvement could be proved. Posted by: Fred 2012-04-17 |
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