Ceremony takes place despite a continuing legal and political battle over the election results
Embalo won 53.55% of the votes in the December 29 runoff but the ruling a legal challenges have delayed hisUmaro Sissoco Embalo in Bissau on December 28 2019. Picture: SEYLLOU / AFP
“I swear on my honour to defend the constitution, to respect it and have it respected,” Embalo said, his right hand raised, before a crowd of several hundred at an upscale hotel in the West African state’s capital, Bissau. Outgoing president Jose Mario Vaz then placed the presidential sash over his shoulders, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
However, this has failed to resolve the dispute, and a row has now brewed between the supreme court and the election panel. The speaker of the legislature, which shares power with the presidency under Guinea-Bissau’s constitution, was a notable absentee at Thursday’s ceremony. Troops were deployed in significant numbers in and around the hotel where the inauguration took place — an apparent sign that the armed forces were willing to let the ceremony go ahead.The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States , which has played the role of mediator in Guinea-Bissau’s crises, congratulated Embalo in January.Portugal, the former colonial power, said in January that it would await the final results, validated by the supreme court.
Embalo is a reserve brigadier general with a fondness for wearing a red-and-white Arab keffiyeh headdress.
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