UN
21 Apr
2013
Ramos-Horta notes strong determination in Guinea-Bissau to produce political roadmap
19 April 2013 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, Jose Ramos Horta, said on Friday after meetings with the Speaker of the People's National Assembly (parliament), the Transitional Prime Minister and heads of political parties that he was convinced there was strong determination on the part of his interlocutors to produce a political roadmap for the West African country.
"I am convinced that the Speaker of the ANP [People's National Assembly] as well as the Government are strongly determined to produce, for the people of Guinea-Bissau and for the international community, the so-called political roadmap so that we can all know the political calendar culminating in legislative and presidential elections," Ramos-Horta said.
"At the meeting with the Speaker of parliament and the Prime Minister, I came to know that it is practically completed," he said at a press conference in Bissau at the headquarters of the UN Integrated Peace-Building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau, UNIOGBIS. "The delay stems from the state of health of Transitional President [Serifo] Nhamajo, who has been abroad. However, as the situation demands it, it is possible that even with the absence of President Nhamajo, the Speaker of Parliament can move the process forward and we shall get to know the political timetable leading up to the holding of the elections".
"That requires the formation of an even more broad-based government that involves the PAIGC [African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde] as a party and not as individuals, and we continue to advocate that it [the election] should be held as early as possible," reiterated Ramos-Horta, who returned to Bissau on Friday after a mission that took him to The Gambia, Senegal, Cape Verde and Mozambique for consultations with the authorities of these countries.
On his return to Bissau, Ramos-Horta - who was accompanied on his mission by the Special Representative of the African Union (AU) in Guinea-Bissau, Ovidio Pequeno - had meetings on Friday with leaders of the PAIGC and the Social Renewal Party (PRS) as well as the ambassadors or chargés d'affaires accredited to the country, in addition to the Speaker and the Prime Minister.
With regard to the technical and financial resources required for the elections, Ramos-Horta said that "the international community will mobilise itself to support the National Electoral Commission in the organisation of the entire electoral process."
Focussing on his meetings with the leaders of the PAIGC and the PRS, Ramos-Horta stressed that he was "quite happy to know that there has been frequent dialogue, consultations, between the two, which have a very big obligation to guarantee peace, stability and good governance in Guinea-Bissau". The fact that the PAIGC and the PRS are in dialogue constitutes some "reason for optimism", he said, "but it is also a reason for optimism when other parties which are not so big as the PAIGC and the PRS, but which have legitimacy, whether they have seats in parliament or not, have also spoken, as well as civil society".
Ramos-Horta said that on his various missions, from Cape Verde, where he also met with the Foreign Minister of Brazil, to Mozambique, he found that there was a harmony of positions between all the countries. "From The Gambia and Senegal to Mozambique, Cape Verde and Brazil, there is a harmony of positions with regard to free, democratic and transparent elections to be held preferably this year, and there are commitments that all intend to fulfill. This also includes the European Union, with which we spoke about providing full technical and financial support for the holding of the elections," he said.
"And, in the post-election period, from the formation of the next government, the international community will give full support for the reorganisation, the reconstitution, of the Guinean State," Ramos-Horta announced.
