The president is elected through a two-round voting system for up to two consecutive terms of five years. The prime minister is appointed by the president “in accordance with the election results” after consulting with the parliamentary parties, and the government must be dissolved if the parliament rejects its proposed budget.

Embaló, the candidate of the Madem G15 party and a coalition of opposition groups, won the December 2019 presidential election’s runoff with 53.6 percent of the vote, defeating the PAIGC’s Domingos Simões Pereira, who won 46.4 percent of the vote. According to the National Election Commission (CNE), voter turnout was 72.7 percent. The African Union (AU) election observation mission found that the administration of the runoff vote was free and transparent, despite challenges with the first round of voting. International bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) acknowledged Embaló’s victory in April 2020. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected an appeal by Pereira that September.

In August 2023, Embaló named Geraldo Martins, a former finance minister, as prime minister after the PAIGC-led coalition won June legislative elections. In the wake of the alleged coup attempt in early December 2023, Embaló dismissed Martins on December 20 and named de Barros—who had served as transitional prime minister from 2012 to 2014—as his replacement.

Members of the 102-seat National People’s Assembly are elected by popular vote for four-year terms.

In May 2022, President Embaló dissolved the parliament, accusing its members of corruption and citing “insurmountable differences” between the body and other branches of government. An interim government was appointed in June; the PAIGC, which could not reach an agreement with Embaló on taking part in a national unity executive, was excluded from the transitional government.

In the June 2023 legislative elections, the Inclusive Alliance Platform/Terra Ranka—a five-party coalition led by the PAIGC—won 54 seats. Embaló’s Madem G15 party won 29, while the PRS took 12, the Bissau-Guinean Workers’ Party won 6, and the United People’s Assembly–Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau (APU-PDGB) secured 1. The conduct of the elections was praised as peaceful and orderly by ECOWAS, the AU, the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, and local civil society organizations.

After Embaló dissolved the parliament in early December 2023—in response to what he said was a coup attempt—Pereira, the body’s speaker, denounced the move as unconstitutional, and called a parliamentary session for December 13. However, security forces used tear gas to prevent PAIGC lawmakers, their supporters, and staff from entering the assembly building that day. No date had been set for new parliamentary elections as of year’s end.

There are some problems with the country’s electoral laws and framework, including weak controls on campaign spending, vote buying, and a lack of legal provisions for domestic poll observers. Elections have been subject to delays in recent years, due in part to lack of funding and stalled voter-registration processes.

There are no major constraints on party formation. Dozens of political parties are active in Guinea-Bissau, and 20 parties and two coalitions competed in the 2023 parliamentary elections, up from 21 parties in 2019. However, the ongoing political crisis has led to instances of violence and intimidation among partisan groups.

The PRS reported in May 2023 that the house of one of its leaders, Dias, was shot at and his car was set on fire; the party called the attack an assassination attempt.

Guinea-Bissau has a limited record of democratic power transfers between rival political parties, as the PAIGC or military rulers have governed for most of the period since independence. In 2014, José Mário Vaz of the PAIGC succeeded an independent who had served as acting president in the wake of the 2012 coup. Nevertheless, opposition forces increased their representation in the 2019 legislative elections. President Embaló of the new party Madem G15 succeeded Vaz following the 2019 presidential election, though Embaló’s use of the military to complete his installation in office raised concerns.

The PAIGC, while in opposition, led a coalition of parties that won the June 2023 parliamentary elections. However, Embaló dissolved the resulting parliament in December after what he said was an attempted coup.

The military apparently refrained from interfering in politics in the years after 2014, though it was used by President Embaló to complete his installment in office. The choices of voters and politicians continue to be influenced by corruption and patronage networks. Organized crime linked to drug trafficking and money laundering has contributed to the country’s political instability in recent decades.

In February 2022, while President Embaló was leading a cabinet meeting at the government palace, a group of armed men surrounded the building and opened fire, leaving 11 dead in an alleged coup attempt. Several of Embaló’s opponents—including PAIGC leader Pereira and Luís Vaz Martins, the former president of the Guinean League of Human Rights (LGDH)—have expressed doubts that the attack represented a genuine coup attempt. Some analysts indicated that Embaló, who claimed the attack was planned by drug traffickers, may have orchestrated it himself, possibly in the hope that ECOWAS would send troops to help keep his government in power. In June 2022, ECOWAS deployed a “stabilization force” to Guinea-Bissau to help local law enforcement protect public officials and government institutions and prevent further violence.

In late November 2023, fighting broke out in the capital between members of the National Guard and the special forces, after two PAIGC cabinet members—Economy and Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi and Treasury Secretary Antonio Monteiro—were detained by police on corruption allegations. Members of the National Guard, which was said to be aligned with the PAIGC, freed the two ministers. Calm was restored hours later after the army recaptured the two men and arrested the National Guard commander. President Embaló, who was out of the country at the time, called the unrest an attempted coup and subsequently dissolved the parliament, marking the second time he had taken such a step in as many years.

Women enjoy equal political rights, but cultural obstacles limit their participation in practice, and they are underrepresented in leadership positions. In the June 2023 parliamentary elections, the number of women holding seats decreased from 14, or 13.7 percent, to 10, or 9.8 percent. A 2018 law requires 36 percent of candidates on party lists to be women.

Ethnicity plays a role in politics, reducing the extent to which all groups’ interests are represented. For example, one of the country’s larger ethnic groups, the Balanta, has traditionally dominated the military and cast votes for the PRS.

Governance has been impaired by recurring power struggles between presidency and the parliamentary majority, and the full legislature has convened only sporadically in recent years.

In early 2020, a constitutional crisis emerged when President Embaló organized his inauguration unconstitutionally. The PAIGC, which had a slim parliamentary majority but lost the 2019 presidential election, ignored Embaló’s inauguration and appointed an interim president, Cipriano Cassamá. However, Cassamá resigned after one day in office, saying he feared for his safety. Embaló was eventually recognized by the parliament.

Embaló dissolved the parliament in May 2022 and again in December 2023, each time replacing the prime minister and cabinet supported by the parliamentary majority with his own appointees.

Corruption is pervasive, including among senior government figures. Both military and civilian officials have been accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade. Critics of past corruption investigations targeting former high-ranking officials have argued that they were politically motivated.

Malam Bacai Sanha Jr., the son of a former Guinea-Bissau president, pleaded guilty in a US court in September 2023 to leading an international drug-trafficking ring; he was accused of planning to use the drug proceeds to finance a coup in his home country.

There are no effective legal provisions to facilitate public access to government information, and government officials do not disclose their personal financial information as required by law. Recent political impasses and related parliamentary dysfunction have further obstructed oversight of government spending. The lack of transparency contributes to chronic budget shortfalls, frequent delays in public-sector wages, and doubts about the management of foreign assistance.

The constitution provides for freedom of the press, and there is some media diversity. However, journalists regularly face harassment and intimidation, including pressure regarding their coverage from political figures and government officials. Journalists and media facilities have been the targets of violence.

In recent years, armed men—some dressed in military clothing—have repeatedly attacked the privately owned Radio Capital FM station, which is allied to the PAIGC, vandalizing its offices and destroying broadcasting equipment.

In December 2023, in the wake of the alleged coup attempt, armed men in military uniforms raided the state-owned television and radio stations and ordered them off the air; a few hours later, the men directed technicians at the stations to broadcast music and then a news segment about the president’s dissolution of the parliament.

Privately owned radio stations are subject to steep annual licensing fees; nonpayment of fees can incur harsh criminal penalties, including up to three years’ imprisonment for the station’s owner. In April 2022, the government ordered the closure of 79 radio stations for nonpayment of broadcast licensing fees. All but two of the stations resumed broadcasting later that month after civil society organizations helped them negotiate staggered payments to the government.

Religious freedom is legally protected and usually respected in practice. Government licensing requirements are not onerous and are often disregarded. Some Muslims have reportedly raised concerns about the influence of foreign imams who preach a more rigorous or austere form of Islam, threatening religious tolerance. In a high-profile incident in 2022, a Roman Catholic church in the city of Gabú was vandalized by a group of unknown individuals.

Academic freedom is guaranteed and generally upheld, though the education system is poor in terms of access, quality, and basic resources. Public schools were closed for much of 2018, 2019, and 2022 due to ongoing teachers’ strikes, and in 2020 and 2021 as a consequence of COVID-19 restrictions.

Individuals are relatively free to express their views on political topics in the private and social spheres, though some more public figures have faced the threat of arrest or charges in retaliation for their remarks in recent years.

Freedom of assembly is frequently restricted. The authorities have repeatedly interfered with demonstrations linked to the political tensions between the presidency and the legislature.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are generally able to operate. Some groups have faced intimidation and other obstacles, particularly those that are associated with street demonstrations.

Several activists who criticized the government have reported facing harassment, arbitrary detentions, and physical assaults in recent years. In 2021, lawyer and former LGDH president Martins was allegedly the target of an assassination attempt. Martins accused the president of ordering the attack.

LGDH president Augusto Mário da Silva warned in March 2023 that human rights defenders were increasingly vulnerable to threats and attacks carried out by state agents and other groups, and cited weak legal remedies.

Workers are allowed to form and join independent trade unions, but few work in the wage-earning formal sector. Private employers sometimes engage in improper interference with union organizing and other activities. The right to strike is protected, and government workers frequently exercise it.

Several strikes took place during 2023, with workers protesting unpaid wages and poor working conditions. Staff at the country’s main hospital went on strike at the end of the year, demanding the payment of wage arrears.

Judges are highly susceptible to corruption and political pressure, and the court system as a whole lacks the resources and capacity to function effectively.

Corruption is common among police, and officers often fail to observe legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention. Very few criminal cases are brought to trial or successfully prosecuted, partly due to the limited material and human resources available to investigators. Most of the population lacks access to the justice system in practice.

Lawyers involved in sensitive cases may be at risk of intimidation or extralegal violence. In November 2022, government critic Marcelino Ntupé, the acting legal representative for 18 people accused of taking part in the alleged coup attempt in February of that year, was kidnapped from his home and severely beaten by a group of armed men.

Conditions in prisons and detention centers are often extremely poor, and law enforcement personnel generally enjoy impunity for abuses. Because of its weak institutions and porous borders, Guinea-Bissau has become a transit point for criminal organizations trafficking various types of contraband. The armed forces and other state entities have been linked to drug trafficking. In recent years, authorities have made some progress in combating the drug trade and organized crime.

A low-intensity conflict in Senegal’s Casamance region occasionally affects security across the border in Guinea-Bissau, where Senegalese rebels sometimes operate.

Women face significant societal discrimination and traditional biases, despite some legal protections. They generally do not receive equal pay for similar work and have fewer opportunities for education and employment.

There are virtually no effective legal protections against discrimination on other grounds, including ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity, though same-sex relations are not specifically criminalized.

There are few formal restrictions on freedom of movement, but widespread corruption among police and other public officials can limit this right in practice, as can criminal activity. At times, Senegalese rebel activity may restrict movement in the border area.

Illegal economic activity, including logging, by organized groups remains a problem. The quality of enforcement of property rights is generally poor, and the formal procedures for establishing a business are relatively onerous.

Women, particularly those from certain ethnic groups in rural areas, face restrictions on their ability to own and inherit property.

There are multiple constraints on personal social freedoms. Early and forced marriages remain common, especially in rural areas. The government, international organizations, and community leaders have worked to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM), though 52 percent of the country’s women and girls aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to such practices, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Despite the existence of legislation to address gender-based violence, the problem is reportedly widespread; victims of rape and domestic abuse rarely report the crimes to authorities.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the world’s poorest countries, with most families relying on unstable employment in the informal economy or remittances from migrant workers abroad. Public services have deteriorated in recent years amid irregular payment of public-sector workers.

Boys are vulnerable to organized exploitation through forced begging and forced labor in sectors including mining and agriculture. A rising number of Muslim children from Guinea-Bissau are trafficked by money-making organizations disguised as religious Quranic schools, particularly into Senegal.

Girls are frequently victims of sexual exploitation or domestic servitude. Government officials have been accused of complicity in trafficking activity, including sex tourism schemes in the Bijagós islands, an Atlantic Ocean archipelago off the country’s coast.