Guinea Bissau votes to replace assassinated president

Jun 28, 2009, 12:30 GMT

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau - Polls opened in Guinea-Bissau early Sunday to allow voters to chose a successor to assassinated President Joao Bernardo Vieira in an election observers hope will bring some stability to the country.

The tiny West African nation, dubbed a 'narco-state' for its role as a hub for drugs trafficked from South America to Europe, has been blighted by instability since independence from Portugal in 1974.

The election is seen as a crucial test of democracy, not just for Guinea-Bissau but for the region, where both Guinea and Mauritania have suffered coups and Niger's president is attempting to over-ride the constitution and stay in power.

'The atmosphere is still quite delicate but this election is crucial in order to restore order,' said Shola Omoregie, head of the United Nations Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. 'It's also a chance to turn a new page.'

Eleven candidates are running to succeed Vieira, who was shot dead by soldiers on March 2, in an apparent revenge attack for the murder of the army chief.

But the race belongs to the ruling party's Malam Bacai Sanha and opposition candidate Kumba Yala. A run-off is a distinct possibility.

A third front-runner, Baciro Dabo, was murdered by government security forces at the beginning of June.

Dabo, a close ally of Vieira, was widely believed to have fairly strong chance of winning the poll. The government had accused him of planning a coup.

Human rights group Amnesty International says dire economic conditions and drug trafficking threaten the fragile political and social stability in the Portuguese-speaking country.

The organization is calling for an investigation into Dabo's death.

Analysts say most of the violence, however, is largely contained within military and political circles. Independent election observers who have flown in to monitor the vote say they expect polling day to pass peacefully.

Desejado Lima da Costa, head of the National Election Commission, believes a trouble-free vote will help improve the country's negative image.

'This vote is an important task for the stability of the nation,' he says. 'It will also reflect the credibility of the country.'

The United Nations ranks Guinea-Bissau as one of the most impoverished nations in the world, with a life expectancy of just 45 years.

There are 600,000 registered voters in the nation of 1.6 million people.

The polls close at 1700 GMT and results are expected within a few days.