The military authorities in Guinea-Bissau held negotiations with a mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which arrived to mediate the crisis following the coup d'état. Both sides described the meeting as "fruitful," according to a correspondent from the French radio station RFI in the country.
The meeting, which lasted about three hours, took place behind closed doors in a building near the presidential palace. The military delegation was led by the Interim President of Guinea-Bissau, General Horta N'Tam.
The ECOWAS mission included the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simão, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray. The heads of Senegal, Togo, and Cape Verde were absent. The President of Cape Verde, José Maria Pereira Neves, stated he was not participating in the mission due to "historical ties between the countries."
On behalf of ECOWAS, Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba reiterated the condemnation of the forceful seizure of power and demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order and the resumption of the electoral process. In response, the military reiterated that they acted to "preserve order and security."
"This is already a good first sign that ECOWAS has traveled to Bissau. What we expect from ECOWAS is for the election results to be published as soon as possible," stated the spokesperson for opposition politician Fernando Dias, François Mendy.
João Bernardo Vieira, appointed head of government by the transitional structures, reported that the duration of the one-year transitional period would be discussed at a summit on December 14 in Abuja. The issue of publishing the election results was postponed until the next meeting.
The ECOWAS delegation arrived in the country on December 1 to discuss with the military authorities the conditions for restoring constitutional order. The transitional authorities of Guinea-Bissau prohibited protests and demonstrations in the country ahead of the delegation's visit.
Earlier in November, the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS election observation missions condemned the coup in Guinea-Bissau. Furthermore, ECOWAS announced the suspension of Guinea-Bissau's participation in all decision-making bodies of the organization until constitutional order is restored following the coup.
The organization also held an extraordinary virtual summit to review the situation in Guinea-Bissau. As part of the measures adopted, ECOWAS formed a special committee with a limited membership. It was expected that the committee's delegation would travel to Bissau to fulfill a mediation role and monitor compliance with the summit's decisions.
