Guinea-Bissau president dismisses government

Guinea Bissau’s president Jose Mario Vaz has dismissed the government following disagreements with Prime Minister Domingo Pereira, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Thursday.

The move comes after the president acknowledged a “crisis” in relations with the premier that were undermining the functioning of the government.

Differences that emerged a few days ago between the president and the prime minister following the president’s announcement that he may dissolve government, resulted in protests by trade unions, civil society groups and members of his political party. But President Vaz took power in a peaceful election in 2014.

Donors pledged more than 1.1 billion dollars in aid after Guinea Bissau returned to civilian rule last year following a 2012 coup.

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 (reconciliation) efforts did not succeed in resolving hard relations between the president and the prime minister”, he said.

He also raised the closure of the border with Guinea over the Ebola crisis and cited problems of corruption and nepotism, a lack of transparency in public procurement and obstruction of the judiciary.

The country has undergone nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

With a history of coups, no elected leader has served a full term since independence from Portugal in 1974.