- Title: Two Guinea-Bissau ex-premiers prepare for presidential runoff
- Date: 28th December 2019
- Summary: VARIOUS OF EMBALO SUPPORTERS ON MOTORBIKES AND CARS AS NIGHT FALLS
- Embargoed: 11th January 2020 02:39
- Keywords: Domingos Simoes Pereira Umaro Cissoko Embalo crisis elections guinea bissau president
- Location: BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU
- City: BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU
- Country: Guinea-Bissau
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA003BBW24P3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two former Guinea-Bissau prime ministers prepare to face off on Sunday (December 29) as the country heads to the polls for the second round of Presidential elections after five years marked by infighting and corruption scandals.
As election campaigns come to a close, candidates participate in their last rallies before Sunday's vote.
Domingos Simoes Pereira finished the previous round first with 40% and Umaro Cissoko Embalo came second with 28% in the November 24 first-round poll
Pereira campaigned as a moderniser whose promise to bolster health and education made him popular with younger voters in Bissau.
Embalo, 47, who served as prime minister under Vaz from 2016-18, said he will win the second round of the elections and lead a crusade against drug trafficking and corruption.
Incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz had governed the tiny West African country since 2014. Critics say he failed to control corruption or the flow of drugs through forested islands off the coast.
Bissau has intercepted over 2.5 tonnes of cocaine this year believed en route from South America to Europe.
The political instability has hurt the economy, which depends heavily on volatile prices for cashew nuts, the main income source for over two-thirds of households. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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