Parliamentary elections were held in

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

on 10 March 2019. They were originally scheduled for 18 November 2018 following an

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

brokered agreement between President

José Mário Vaz José Mário Vaz (born 10 December 1957) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as List of Presidents of Guinea-Bissau, president of Guinea-Bissau from 23 June 2014 to 27 February 2020. Early life Popularly known by the nickname "Jomav," Jo ...

and the opposition in April 2018, but the electoral census was not completed until 20 November, and Prime Minister

Aristides Gomes Aristides Gomes (born 8 November 1954
.) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was o ...

(PAIGC) won 47 of the 102 seats and remained the largest party. Although its loss of ten seats resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

, pre-election agreements with the Assembly of the People United (five seats), the New Democracy Party (one seat) and the

Union for Change The Union for Change (, UM) is a political alliance in Guinea-Bissau. History The UM was established in 1994 as an alliance of six parties; the Democratic Front (FD), the Democratic Party of Progress (PDP), the Democratic Social Front (FDS), t ...

(one seat) gave the PAIGC-led coalition a six-seat majority in the National People's Assembly.

Electoral system

The 102 members of the National People's Assembly were elected by two methods; 100 by

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

from 27 multi-member constituencies and two from single-member constituencies representing expatriate citizens in Africa and Europe.Electoral system
IPU

Conduct

Election day was peaceful, with President Vaz stating "no-one has been killed, no fights, no coup, without random arrests and without political prisoners. Instead, there is freedom of expression and the right to assemble." Voter turnout was reportedly high.

Results

Aftermath

Following the elections, deputy President

Domingos Simões Pereira Domingos Simões Pereira (born 20 October 1963) is a Guinea-Bissau, Bissau-Guinean politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 to August 2015. He previously served as Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese Language Co ...

of the PAIGC was initially proposed as the new Prime Minister. However, President Vaz refused to appoint him following a breakdown in relations between the two. The deadlock was finally lifted in late June 2019, when the incumbent

Aristides Gomes Aristides Gomes (born 8 November 1954
.) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the Parliamentary elections in Guinea-Bissau

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...