Unidentified armed men seized ballots and voter tallies from offices of Guinea-Bissau's National Electoral Commission (CNE) after the military overthrew the government last week, an official said Tuesday, explaining reasons why the commission is unable to complete the Nov. 23 presidential election process.
The commission's deputy executive secretary, Idrica Djalo, was responding to demands by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc and others who have asked the commission to continue the electoral process of the presidential and legislative elections.
Last Wednesday, a group of military officers identifying themselves as the "High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order" announced that they had "assumed full powers of the state."
The coup was staged as opposition candidate Fernando Dias and incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's camps both claimed victory in the presidential election as the country awaited the official results.
Djalo said the armed men attacked their premises, ransacked offices and confiscated computers and servers, "a fact that makes it impossible to follow through with the electoral process."
He said that during the invasion, more than 45 people were at the commission premises, including electoral officials, representatives of political parties, a coalition of parties and candidates for the presidential elections and state prosecutors.
He said that at the time of the invasion, the commission had only the original voter tallies for both the presidential and legislative elections.
"As you know, in Guinea-Bissau, missing one step in the electoral process automatically affects the whole process," he added.
ECOWAS suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies in the wake of the military coup that ousted elected President Embalo.
To respect the will of the people, the bloc demanded that the coup leaders allow the National Electoral Commission to proceed without delay with the declaration of the results of the presidential and legislative elections.
The High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order appointed Gen. Horta Inta-A as the transitional president of Guinea-Bissau.
