PAIGC denounces “inappropriate ownership” of its national headquarters in Bissau

Athrough a publication on social networks, Simões Pereira, currently residing in Lisbon, stated that the restriction of the functioning of the party headquarters near the installations of sovereign bodies cannot mean the appropriation of the real estate.

“ One thing is to say: ‘the thirst of a party cannot work here’. Another, completely different, is to say: ‘this property no longer belongs to its owner’”, he said.

The leader of the PAIGC thus commented on the determination of the authorities of Bissau, who placed, on Wednesday, a plaque before the headquarters of the party to point out that the property is the heritage of the Guinean State.

The measure took place on the day when the seven-day deadline given by the High Military Command ended for the parties to abandon facilities located less than 500 meters from sovereign bodies, military barracks, police stations and embassies.

The PAIGC contested the measure, which it said was illegal and unconstitutional, and claims that the building is party property.

“The building is the party’s legitimate property under Law No 3/91 (of May 7), whose rights are not extinguished by criteria of proximity to organs of sovereignty,” said Domingos Simões Pereira.

For the leader of the PAIGC, “even if the prohibition of operating on site were valid, the practical effect would be only the change of activity, never the expropriation” of the property.

The party challenges the authorities to submit publicly and “before the competent authorities” the legal basis that supports the occupation of space and warns that the country needs legal certainty and justice, warning that “the property does not change holder because a door has been closed”.

The Guinean military staged a coup d'état on November 26, 2025, the day before the publication of the results of legislative and presidential elections, and removed from power the then President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló.

They created a National Transitional Council (CNT), which took over the powers of parliament, and appointed Ilídio Vieira Té Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

The opposition considered that this was a coup d'état staged to allow Sissoco Embalo, who has lived regularly in Morocco since the coup, to return to power through new presidential and legislative elections marked by the military on 6 December.

The delegation of the Lusa agency in Guinea-Bissau has been suspended since August 2025 after the expulsion by the Government of the representatives of the Portuguese media. Coverage is being secured from a distance