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afrol.com, 22 March - In his latest report on Guinea-Bissau, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan observes rising social tensions and a lack of dialogue, halting donor support. The troubled West African nation Guinea-Bissau has been under UN vigelance for two years, since the work to establish and consolidate a democratic government began. In his latest report on Guinea-Bissau released yesterday at UN Headquarters in New York, Kofi Annan urged all parties in Guinea-Bissau to engage in dialogue to defuse domestic political tensions, warning that continuing instability could result not only in more hardship for the population but erode donors' confidence in the country's ability to manage its post-conflict transition. - Although the direct challenge to the constitutional order by the military appears to have decreased noticeably, the overall situation in the country has grown more unstable, the report concludes. In November 2000, the military bid for power had its last convulsions as former military leader, General Ansoumane Mane, tried to overthrow civilian President Kumba Yala. Mane was killed in the attempted coup and civilian order was reimposed. Thus, the constant threat of a military takeover seemed eliminated. New conflict lines within civil society have however emerged since that, threatening the fragile stability of the country. In the political arena, frictions and disagreements within the coalition government have intensified. These resulted in a mass resignation from the Government, on 23 January 2000, of all members of the Guinea-Bissau Resistance (RGB), the coalition partner of the Party of Social Renewal (PRS) of President Kumba Yala. "The subsequent appointment by President Yala of a minority PRS Cabinet has created further political uncertainty, since that party lacks the parliamentary majority to rule alone," the report states. Over the past several weeks, attention has been focused on President Yala’s attempts to form a new coalition Government, following growing demands to replace Prime Minister N’Chama. Against the background of simmering ethnic and religious discontent, the authorities of Guinea-Bissau, on 18 February 2001, revealed that they had foiled another plot to assassinate President Yala. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the paucity of the country's national resources and poor infrastructure were major sources of rising social tensions. He noted that tensions over the past few months had delayed a Round Table Conference organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). - I therefore reiterate my call on the international community to provide urgent assistance to Guinea-Bissau without waiting for the Conference, so as to enable the Government to meet its pressing, short-term obligations, he wrote, commending the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the flexibility they displayed in providing the country with post-recovery assistance. "I hope that they will persevere in this direction," Mr. Annan said. On the subject of factional fighting in Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Annan warned that the country's growing involvement in the factional fighting of the Senegalese separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) in the north-west of Guinea-Bissau, and the presence of Casamance refugees along the border with Senegal were "causes of concern." Following these factional MFDC fighting, "the Government, claiming the need to protect Guinea-Bissau’s territorial integrity, launched a military offensive against MFDC. The ensuing armed confrontation has created a tense security situation in the border area and resulted in further heavy criticism of a Government already weakened by internal crisis," Annan concludes. - In this connection, I wish to encourage the leaders of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal to continue their bilateral efforts to normalize the situation along their common border, he wrote. Despite the troubling climate of tension, "Guinea-Bissau continues with its efforts to consolidate its fragile democratization process," Annan however concludes. The National Assembly, which resumed its annual session on 28 February 2001, has focused its debates on the revision of the Constitution to bring it into line with the norms of a democratic society. To facilitate these debates, the UN Peace-building Support Office in the country, known as UNOGBIS, at the request of the Assembly, organized a seminar on the revision of the Constitution from 12 to 15 February 2001. "The seminar, which brought together members of the National Assembly, representatives of political parties, civil society leaders and constitutional experts, generated dialogue on norms and principles of constitutions in multi-party systems, providing its 100 participants with the necessary expertise and advice on constitutional issues," Annan said. UNOGBIS has operated in the country since late September 2000. ©
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