Guinea-Bissau President dissolves govt after row with PM

Guinea-Bissau’s President Jose Mario Vaz has dismissed the government following a rift with Prime Minister Domingos Pereira.

“The efforts made did not succeed in resolving hard relations between the president and the prime minister”, he said, adding that a government reshuffle would have been inadequate.

In a presidential statement issued late on Wednesday announcing his decision to dismiss Pereira and his cabinet with immediate effect, Vaz referred to what he called “a breach of trust” between the two men.

THE troubled west African nation of Guinea-Bissau was plunged into fresh political turmoil Thursday after the president sacked the government in a row with the prime minister.

The 16-member government took office in July 2014, two months after Vaz became Guinea-Bissau’s first elected civilian leader since the army mutinied in 2012.

The west African country, which returned to civilian rule last year, has been plagued by coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

Pereira had previously said the PAIGC, the ruling party to which both Vaz and Pereira belong, was planning a convention this year to address the tensions.

Guinea Bissau has undergone nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

Vaz’s election last year ushered in an era of stability that saw the European Union pledging $175 million in aid in March to bolster democracy and accelerate economic recovery.

Many senior military officers have also been accused of turning the country into a narco-state as it is a major hub for cocaine smuggled from Latin America to Europe.