Senegal negotiates new election date in Guinea-Bissau
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on O Democrata
Senegalese minister Cheikh Niang has arrived in Bissau to discuss the political crisis and a new date for the general elections. The vote, initially scheduled for 6 December 2026, can no longer be held on that date and its postponement has yet to be formalised, according to O Democrata.
Senegal’s Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, Cheikh Niang, arrived in Bissau on Sunday 25 October to negotiate with the authorities and political actors on a new date for the general elections in Guinea-Bissau. ECOWAS, chaired by Senegal, has tasked Dakar with mediating in the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, O Democrata reports.
The government and the National Electoral Commission have acknowledged that it is impossible to hold the vote on the date originally scheduled, 6 December. A presidential decree must still formalise the postponement and set a new timetable, after Senegal called for restraint and political consensus on 8 October.
Cheikh Niang is due to meet Prime Minister Ilídio Vieira Té, the president of the Transitional Council and Chief of General Staff of the armed forces, Tomás Djassi, as well as the transitional president, Horta Inta-a. His programme also includes separate talks with the main political parties, civil society and the Bissau-Guinean diplomatic corps.
The mission follows the Bissau-Guinean president’s consultations on the 6 December vote on 8 October, and Senegal’s call for dialogue amid a possible postponement, published the same day. ECOWAS subsequently backed Senegal’s mediation on 9 October.
