Lisbon, Jan. 25, 2026 (Lusa) - Mariano Quade, leader of Fernando Dias da Costa's campaign for the presidency of Guinea-Bissau, has called for military intervention by ECOWAS to ensure a return to democratic normality, warning that failure to do so would lead to discredit.
"The Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] is the authority for resolving conflicts and can take decisive action to enforce its decisions, with concrete action on the ground, if possible deploying forces to ensure a return to constitutional normality," the leader said in statements to Lusa in Lisbon on Saturday at the start of a protest demonstration against the constitutional coup of 26 November last year.
"Military intervention is the only option left to ECOWAS, otherwise it will fall completely into disrepute; in a situation of a coup d'état and advocating zero tolerance for any [coup-plotting] country, ECOWAS has only one path, which is to resort to force to return power to the people," argued the leader of Fernando Dias da Costa's campaign.
At the start of the demonstration, Mariano Quade told Lusa that "at this moment, the people do not know what their fate will be, and much depends on ECOWAS's ability to fulfil its determination" at the summit of heads of state held on 14 December.
"This situation and the time ECOWAS is taking to ensure a return to constitutional normality are incomprehensible," he said, adding that Portugal also has an important role to play, namely "by directly applying penalties to figures who are currently committing irregularities in the country."
Mariano Quade was disappointed with the low turnout for the protest, which brought together only a few dozen people, stating: "The low turnout worries us, because the country is in a very serious situation, the people there are suffering more than those here, and the diaspora has to mobilise, because in our country no one can take to the streets, no one can speak, the country is in limbo."
The self-styled Military High Command seized power on 26 November 2025, three days after the general elections in Guinea-Bissau and one day before the official results were announced, with the opposition claiming victory over the outgoing President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was running for a second term of office.
The military claimed that "there was an imminent danger of civil war in the country," justified by the alleged "division in society, in all ethnic groups and in families because of the elections."
The candidate who claimed victory in these elections, Fernando Dias da Costa, has remained silent in recent weeks, with information circulating on social media that he is taking refuge in the Nigerian Embassy in Guinea-Bissau.
Considered Sissoco Embaló's main opponent, Domingos Simões Pereira and the historic PAIGC were removed from the elections by court order and decided to support Fernando Dias da Costa.
During the military coup, several detainees were released by the military, but Simões Pereira remains in prison, where he has been for two months, and is uncontactable, according to his family and lawyers.
The military has, however, scheduled elections for the end of this year.
International organisations have demanded the release of political prisoners, notably Domingos Simões Pereira, and the restoration of constitutional order.
These are some of the conditions for lifting Guinea-Bissau's suspension from organisations such as the CPLP (the Community of Portuguese Language Countries), ECOWAS and the African Union.
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