African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PAIGC |
Leader | Domingos Simões Pereira |
Founder | Henri Labéry Amílcar Cabral |
Founded | 19 September 1956 |
Headquarters | Bissau, Guinea-Bissau |
Youth wing | African Youth Amílcar Cabral |
Women's wing | União Democrática das Mulheres da Guiné (UDEMU) |
Ideology | Democratic socialism Social democracy Left-wing nationalism African nationalism Pan-Africanism Historical: Communism Marxism–Leninism[1] |
National affiliation | Inclusive Alliance Platform – Terra Ranka |
International affiliation | World Anti-Imperialist Platform[2] Socialist International (consultative)[3] |
Colors | Red, green and yellow |
Slogan | Unidade e Luta ("Unity and Struggle") |
Seats in the National People's Assembly | 47 / 102 |
Party flag | |
Website | |
www | |
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (
The PAIGC also governed Cape Verde, from its independence in 1975 to 1980. After the 1980 coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau, the Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC was converted into a separate party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde.
History
Pre-independence
The party was established in Bissau on 19 September 1956 as the African Party of Independence (Partido Africano da Independência), and was based on the Movement for the National Independence of Portuguese Guinea (Movimento para Independência Nacional da Guiné Portuguesa) founded in 1954 by Henri Labéry and Amílcar Cabral.[4] The party had six founding members; Cabral, his brother Luís, Aristides Pereira, Fernando Fortes, Júlio Almeida and Elisée Turpin.[4] Rafael Paula Barbosa became its first president, whilst Amílcar Cabral was appointed secretary-general.[4]
The Pidjiguiti massacre in 1959 saw Portuguese soldiers open fire on protesting dockworkers, killing 50. The massacre caused a large segment of the population to swing towards the PAIGC's push for independence, although the Portuguese authorities still considered the movement to be irrelevant, and took no serious action in trying to suppress it. However, the massacre convinced the PAIGC leadership to resort to armed struggle against the Portuguese, and in September 1959 the party established a new headquarters in Conakry in neighbouring Guinea.[4] In 1961, the PAIGC combined with the Mozambican FRELIMO and Angolan MPLA to establish the Conference of Nationalist Organizations of the Portuguese Colonies (CONCP), a common party to coordinate the struggles for independence of Portuguese colonies across Africa. The three groups were often represented at international events by the CONCP.
Armed struggle against the Portuguese began in March 1962 with an abortive attack by PAIGC guerrillas on
In January 1966,
The first party congress took place at liberated Cassaca in February 1964, in which both the political and military arms of the PAIGC were assessed and reorganized, with a regular army (Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People, FARP) to supplement the guerilla forces (The People's Guerrillas).[7]
The party also founded a Pilot School in Conakry in this period, led by Lilica Boal from 1969 onward, with the goal of educating young fighters and war orphans.[8]
Throughout the war, the Portuguese handled themselves poorly. It took them a long time to finally take the PAIGC seriously, diverting aircraft and troops based in Guinea to the conflicts in Mozambique and Angola, and by the time that the Portuguese government began to realise that the PAIGC was a significant threat to their continued rule over Guinea, it was too late. Very little was done to curtail the guerrilla operations; the Portuguese didn't try to sever the link between the populace and the PAIGC until very late in the war, and as a result, it became very dangerous for Portuguese troops to operate far from their fortresses.
By 1967, the PAIGC had carried out 147 attacks on Portuguese barracks and army encampments, and effectively controlled two-thirds of
However, in 1970, the FAP began to use similar weapons to those the
Between August and November 1972 the party held elections to regional councils, whose members then elected a National Assembly. Whilst previous elections held by the Portuguese authorities saw suffrage limited to a few thousand people meeting tax and literacy requirements, these were arguably the first elections held in the territory under universal suffrage.[9] Voters were presented with a list of PAIGC candidates, and had the choice to vote for or against. Around 78,000 people took part in the election, with 97% voting for the lists.
On 20 January 1973 Amílcar Cabral, was assassinated by naval commander Inocêncio Kani as part of a plan within the PAIGC to overthrow the leadership. However, despite Cabral's death, the plot failed to topple the leadership, and 94 people were subsequently found guilty of involvement, complicity or suspected complicity. Kani and at least ten others were executed in March.[10] Later in the year independence was unilaterally declared on 24 September 1973 and was recognized by a 93–7 UN General Assembly vote in November,[11] unprecedented as it denounced the Portuguese colonial rule as aggression and occupation. The UN recognition was prior to Portuguese recognition. The conflict had seen 1,875 Portuguese soldiers (out of 35,000 stationed in Portuguese Guinea) and some 6,000 (out of 10,000) PAIGC troops killed by the end of the eleven-year war.
Gallery
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PAIGC soldiers loading weapons on a truck, Guinea-Bissau, 1973
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Kalashnikovs for Hermangono, 1973
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Female soldier playing cards, Guinea-Bissau, 1973
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PAIGC recruits learning how to shoot, Ziguinchor, Senegal, 1973
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Portuguese plane shot down in Guinea-Bissau with PAIGC soldiers, 1974
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PAIGC soldier with his family in a military camp, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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Drawings showing PAIGC soldiers, Farim, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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Village burnt down by the Portuguese, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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PAIGC soldier with a rocket-propelled grenade, Manten military base in the liberated areas, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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Morning roll call, Hermangono, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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Unexploded Portuguese bomb, Canjambari, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
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Armed escort carries a wounded person to the Senegalese border, Sara, Guinea-Bissau, 1974
Post-independence
After achieving independence, the PAIGC was instituted as the sole legal political party of
Under Vieira, the party continued to govern the country in the 1980s and 1990s. One-party elections were held in
Vieira was re-elected for another four-year term as President of PAIGC in mid-May 1998 at the party's sixth congress, with 438 votes in favor, eight opposed, and four abstaining;[12][14] the post of Secretary-General was abolished at this congress.[12] An outbreak of civil war in June 1998 eventually led to the ousting of Vieira in May 1999.[15] A few days later, former Prime Minister Manuel Saturnino da Costa was named acting President of the PAIGC on 12 May 1999.[16] Vieira was expelled from PAIGC at a party congress in September 1999 for "treasonable offences, support and incitement to warfare, and practices incompatible with the statutes of the party". Francisco Benante, the leader of reformists within the party and the only civilian in the transitional military junta, was elected as the President of PAIGC at the end of the congress on 9 September 1999.[17][18] Benante's candidacy was supported by the junta, and he received 174 votes against 133 votes for the only opposing candidate.[18]
General elections were held in November 1999, with a presidential runoff on 16 January 2000. The elections saw the PAIGC lose power for the first time as PAIGC candidate Malam Bacai Sanhá lost to PRS leader Ialá in the presidential elections,[15] whilst the PAIGC were reduced to being the third-largest party in the National People's Assembly after being beaten by the PRS and the Resistance of Guinea-Bissau-Bafatá Movement.
The
In March 2007, the PAIGC formed a three-party alliance with the PRS and the United Social Democratic Party as the three parties sought to form a new government.[20] This led to a successful no-confidence vote against Aristides Gomes and his resignation late in the month; on 9 April Martinho Ndafa Kabi, the choice of the three parties, was appointed Prime Minister by Vieira, and on 17 April a new government was named, composed of ministers from the three parties.[21][22] PAIGC withdrew its backing for Kabi on 29 February 2008, stating that this was done "to avoid acts of indiscipline threatening cohesion and unity in the party".[23]
The PAIGC's seventh Ordinary Congress was held in
After Kabi dismissed the directors of customs, taxes and the treasury on 25 July 2008 without notifying the party, the PAIGC decided to withdraw from the three-party stability pact that was signed in March 2007.
After Sanhá's death in January 2012, early presidential elections were held. Carlos Gomes Júnior was nominated as the PAIGC candidate, and advanced to the runoff alongside Iála, but a military coup in April prevented it taking place. General elections were eventually held in 2014, and saw PAIGC candidate José Mário Vaz elected president, whilst the party also retained its majority in the National People's Assembly, winning 57 of the 102 seats.
The party contested the
Election results
Presidential elections
Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First round | Second round | |||||
1994 | João Bernardo Vieira | 142,577 | 46.20% | 161,083 | 52.02% | Elected |
1999–2000 | Malam Bacai Sanhá | 86,724 | 23.37% | 97,670 | 28.0% | Lost |
2005 | 158,276 | 35.45% | 196,759 | 47.65% | Lost | |
2009 | 133,786 | 37.54% | 224,259 | 63.31% | Elected | |
2012 | Carlos Gomes Júnior | 154,797 | 48.97% | – | Cancelled | |
2014 | José Mário Vaz | 257,572 | 40.89% | 364,394 | 61.92% | Elected |
2019 | Domingos Simões Pereira | 222,870 | 40.13% | 254,468 | 46.45% | Lost |
National People's Assembly
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976–77
|
136,022 | 80.04% | 150 / 150
|
New | 1st | Sole legal party |
1984
|
150 / 150
|
0 | 1st | Sole legal party | ||
1989
|
214,201 | 95.80% | 150 / 150
|
0 | 1st | Sole legal party |
1994 | 134,982 | 46.39% | 62 / 100
|
88 | 1st | Majority |
1999 | 24 / 102
|
38 | 3rd | Opposition | ||
2004
|
145,316 | 33.88% | 45 / 100
|
21 | 1st | Coalition |
2008
|
227,350 | 49.52% | 67 / 100
|
22 | 1st | Majority |
2014 | 281,408 | 47.98% | 57 / 102
|
10 | 1st | Majority |
2019
|
212,148 | 35.22% | 47 / 102
|
10 | 1st | Coalition (2019–2020) |
Opposition (2020–2023) | ||||||
2023
|
Part of Inclusive Alliance Platform | 1st | Coalition |
Foreign support
The PAIGC received support from the governments of China, Cuba, Soviet Union, Senegal, Guinea, Libya, Algeria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ghana.[30]
See also
References
- ^ Trond Gilberg (1989) Coalition Strategies of Marxist Parties p239
- ^ "Palestine Declaration: From the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free!". World Anti-Imperialist Platform. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Member parties of the Socialist International Socialist International
- ^ a b c d e Peter Karibe Mendy (2013) Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Scarecrow Press, p305
- ^ Cuba! Africa! Revolution! BBC Television
- S2CID 233733201.
- ^ OCLC 41157147.
- ^ Sampaio, Madalena (17 October 2014). "Lilica Boal, a eterna diretora da Escola-Piloto do PAIGC". Deutsche Welle (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
- ^ Michael Cowen & Liisa Laakso (2002) Multi-party Elections in Africa, James Currey Publishers, p109
- ^ Patrick Chabal (1983) Amílcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and People's War, CUP Archive, p133
- ^ UN Resolution Archived 9 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine United Nations
- ^ a b c Donald F Busky (2002) Communism in History and Theory: Asia, Africa, and the Americas, Greenwood Publishing Group, pp106–107
- ^ Elections held in 1994 IPU
- ^ "Guinea-Bissau: President Vieira cleared to run for re-election", AFP, 14 May 1998
- ^ a b Elections held in 1999 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine IPU
- ^ "Guinea-Bissau ex-president replaced as party leader", RTP Internacional TV, 12 May 1999
- ^ GUINEA-BISSAU: PAIGC chooses new chairman, expels Vieira IRIN, 10 September 1999
- ^ a b "Guinea-Bissau party elects chairman, expels ex-president", AFP, 9 September 1999
- ^ Elections held in 2004 IPU
- ^ Vieira rejects calls to dissolve government AFP, 14 March 2007
- ^ Guinea-Bissau appoints consensus premier Reuters, 10 April 2007
- ^ Guinea-Bissau's new government named Reuters, 18 April 2007
- ^ Guinea-Bissau opposition withdraws support for PM[dead link] Reuters, 1 March 2008
- ^ a b 7ème congrès du PAIGC à 200 km à l'est de Bissau[permanent dead link] African Press Agency, 26 June 2008 (in French)
- ^ a b L'ancien Premier ministre bissau guinéen Carlos Gomis, réélu président du PAIGC[permanent dead link] African Press Agency, 2 July 2008 (in French)
- ^ PAIGC retira-se de Pacto de Estabilidade Política Nacional Panapress, 27 July 2008 (in Portuguese)
- ^ GUINEA-BISSAU: Elections fears as unity government splits IRIN, 31 July 2008
- ^ GUINEA-BISSAU: Uncertain future as President dissolves government IRIN, 6 August 2008
- ^ "PAI–Terra Ranke é a grande vencedora das legislativas, com cinquenta e quatro deputados". O Democrata. 8 June 2023.
- ^ A Mark Weisburd (2010) Use of Force: The Practice of States Since World War II, Penn State Press, p79