Opening his remarks, Mr. Zerihoun informed the Security Council that President Vaz appointed Mr. Baciro Djá as Prime Minister, which triggered protesters to stone the Presidential Palace. The situation was calm after military and police intervened.

The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs recalled that the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, which has been going on for close to a year now, deteriorated further on 12 May when President José Mário Vaz dismissed the Government of Prime Minister Carlos Correia, the third government to be dissolved since the President assumed office in 2014.  

Good offices of SRSG Touré

Mr. Zerihoun informed that upon his arrival in Guinea-Bissau, SRSG Touré commenced consultations with national and international stakeholders. On 20 May, he pursued his consultations to Dakar, Senegal, with representatives of the UN Member States, as well as the African Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB). Mr. Touré stressed the importance of maintaining the delivery of basic social services in Guinea-Bissau and called on the two banks to think creatively, despite the lingering political instability, on how to assist in that regard. 

On 26 May, the SRSG travelled to Nigeria to meet with Mr. Marcel de Souza, the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Commission. He met earlier today with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Special Envoy of President Buhari for Guinea-Bissau with whom he had substantive discussions.

President Buhari is the Chairman of the Regional Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau. 

Closing his briefing, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs said: “We will continue to support SRSG Touré in his efforts to assist the political leadership in Guinea-Bissau in arriving at a consensual solution to the current political impasse. The attention given by the Security Council to developments and challenges in Guinea-Bissau, and its support to the search for a sustainable solution to the political and security challenges in the country are of utmost importance.”