Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional
Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a
maximum of four years); note - President YALA dissolved the National
People's Assembly in November 2002, elections for a new legislature
were scheduled to fall in February 2003 but were then postponed to
April, then July, then September, and were last scheduled to occur
in March 2004
elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%,
PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2% ; seats by
party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine
justices who are appointed by the president and serve at his
pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases);
Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals
for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases
valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not
necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and
misdemeanor criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders:
African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde
or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Front for the Liberation and
Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau
Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean
Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for
Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO, president];
National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE,
secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor
MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Union for
Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary
general]; United Platform or UP [coalition formed by PCD, FDS,
FLING, and RGB-MB]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD
[Francisco Jose FADUL]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt
(signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique
Adriano DA SILVA
chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, Washington, DC 20005
FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954
telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950
Diplomatic representation from the US:
the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of
violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and
military-led junta; US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering
Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296; FAX - [221] 822-5903
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a
vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed
star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors
of Ethiopia
Economy Guinea-Bissau
Economy - overview:
One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends
mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased
remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in
cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with
small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the
major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between
Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed
much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to
the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that
year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade
reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the
country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The
tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private
sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high
costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral
resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore
oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The
inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the
world. The government and international donors continue to work out
plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base.
Government drift and indecision, however, have resulted in low
growth in 2002-03 and dim prospects for 2004.