- Title: GUINEA BISSAU: Vote counting starts in Guinea Bissau Presidential elections
- Date: 19th March 2012
- Summary: BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU (MARCH 18, 2012) (REUTERS) MAN EMPTYING BALLOT BOX ON TABLE IN OPEN AIR POLLING STATION POLLING AGENT COUNTING ENVELOPES CONTAINING VOTES ECOWAS OBSERVERS WATCHING VARIOUS OF PARTY OBSERVERS WATCHING POLLING STATION SEEN FROM DISTANCE ON STREET CORNER WOMAN SITTING IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE WATCHING THE COUNTING GOING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PEDRO AUGUSTO LOPES, PRESIDENT OF POLLING STATION, SAYING: "We have reached a turnout of more than 75 percent here, I think that's significant. I think that's significant, yes, 75 percent have voted." ENVELOPES IN BALLOT BOX LOPES READING NAME AND SHOWING BALLOT PAPER TO VARIOUS PARTY OBSERVERS MORE OF LOPES SHOWING BALLOTS TO OBSERVERS MORE OF BALLOTS ON TABLE PARTY OBSERVERS TAKING NOTES MORE OF PRESIDENT SHOWING VOTES
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Guinea-Bissau
- Country: Guinea-Bissau
- Topics: Politics,Population
- Reuters ID: LVACTFEKE8KFN3NET4UZQC1FR7FU
- Story Text: Guinea Bissau electoral workers started counting ballots on Sunday (March 18) in an election meant to steer the coup-prone West African state towards stability, but which could instead extend its history of turmoil if the results are contested.
Voting agents counted ballots in the open air polling station, in view of observers as well as passers by.
In some parts of the capital Bissau turnout was as low as 15 percent whereas in others it was much higher.
"We have reached a turnout of more than 75 percent here, I think that's significant. I think that's significant, yes, 75 percent have voted," said Pedro Augusto Lopes, the president of one polling station.
The country's international partners are keen to see the tiny nation, whose president died in January after a long illness, clamp down on rampant drugs trafficking that has made it the main African transit point for South American cocaine bound for Europe.
An estimated 800-1,000 kg of cocaine are flown into Guinea-Bissau every night, according to a leaked 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable, along with an unknown amount ferried by sea into the maze of mangrove-lined islands that make up much of its coast.
The election's main candidates have promised to make fighting drugs a priority, though observers say doing so will require more foreign aid as well as alliances within a military believed by many to be complicit in the drugs trade.
While voting in the country of 1.6 million has been peaceful, the result may prove contentious: opposition figures have already accused ruling party candidate Carlos Gomes Junior of marring the poll by refusing to update a voter register from 2008, leaving more than 100,000 off the rolls.
The former prime minister is facing off with candidates that include Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, who dropped out of the ruling party to run as an independent, and Kumba Yala, an ex-president who shares the Balanta ethnicity with more than 25 percent of the population and the majority of the armed forces.
The challenges to stability are huge in a country whose main official export is cashews: an ordinary Bissau Guinean lives on less than $2 a day and a combination of military meddling and health problems has prevented any president from serving a full term since multi-party politics began in 1994.
The vote will also be the latest test for democracy in a region that has seen a recent flurry of marred polls, including Ivory Coast's in 2010 that sparked a civil war, and Senegal's, which triggered deadly street violence. Senegal is holding a second-round run-off on March 25.
Results are expected within a week. If no candidate wins an outright majority, a run-off will be held probably in April. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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