Seventy percent of Guinea-Bissau voters backed a new constitution that hands the president far more control over the government. The National Electoral Commission announced the result on Tuesday, two days after Sunday’s referendum, putting turnout at nearly 60 percent and the “no” vote at 30 percent.
The military government that seized power in November 2025 organized the vote. Under the new rules the president can appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet, create or abolish ministries and dissolve parliament in the event of a grave political crisis. Before, the legislature picked a prime minister from the parliamentary majority, who then formed a cabinet. The military authorities say that arrangement fed repeated disputes between presidents and prime ministers.
Not everything changed. The five-year presidential term and the two-term limit stay.
Other changes in the text
Parliament shrinks from 102 seats to 65, and electoral constituencies drop from 29 to 12. Presidential candidates must have lived continuously in the country for the five years before an election. The military rulers say the package is meant to steady state institutions before presidential and parliamentary elections in December, which they describe as the way back to civilian rule.
A boycott and a dispute over turnout
The main opposition party, the PAIGC, called on its supporters to stay home. It warned that the changes put too much power in the presidency. Its leader, Domingos Simões Pereira, accused the people behind the referendum of trying to undermine democracy and political freedoms.
The commission’s turnout figure is contested. Al Jazeera noted that international news agencies had described polling stations as largely empty. Some activists told the BBC the vote was a formality and claimed that 90 percent of registered voters stayed away.
Regional analyst Paul Ejime told the BBC the result did not reflect the will of the people and that the changes were aimed at turning the president into an “emperor.” “The population is terrified because the military has been going after everyone who opposes them,” he said. He urged the regional bloc Ecowas to enforce its rules, which bar member states from changing their constitutions within six months of an election.
Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world, has seen at least nine attempted and successful coups since independence from Portugal in 1974. The November 2025 takeover followed a disputed presidential election in which then-President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias both claimed victory. The junta said it acted to stop a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the support of a well-known drug baron.”
Sources
- 2026 Guinea-Bissau constitutional referendum – Wikipedia
- Guinea-Bissau referendum nods to expansion of presidential powers
- Guinea-Bissau referendum approves new constitution that expands president's powers
