João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau
João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira (born 27 April 1939 in Bissau) has been President of Guinea-Bissau since 1 October 2005. Vieira made a political comeback in mid-2005 by winning presidential elections only six years after being ousted during a civil war that ended a previous nineteen years in power.
Originally trained as an electrician, Vieira joined the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) of Amilcar Cabral in 1960 and soon became a key player in the country's guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule.
As the war intensified, he demonstrated a great deal of skill as a military leader and rapidly rose through its ranks. Vieira was known to his comrades as "Nino" and this remained his nom de guerre for the duration of the struggle.
Following regional council elections held in late 1972 in areas under PAIGC control, which led to the formation of a constituent assembly, Vieira was appointed president of the National People's Assembly. On 28 September 1978, he was appointed Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau.
By 1980, economic conditions had deteriorated significantly leading to general dissatisfaction with the government. On 14 November 1980, Vieira toppled the government of Luís Cabral in a bloodless military coup, which led to the PAIGC in Cape Verde splitting away and forming a separate party. The constitution was suspended and a nine-member military Council of the Revolution, chaired by Vieira, was set up. In 1984, a new constitution was approved that returned the country to civilian rule.
Guinea-Bissau, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa moved toward multiparty democracy in the early 1990s. The ban on political parties was lifted in 1991 and elections were held in 1994. In the first round of presidential elections, held on 3 July, Vieira received 46.20% of the vote against seven other candidates. He finished first, but failed to win the required majority, which led to a second round of voting on 7 August. He received 52.02% of the vote against 47.98% for Kumba Yalá, a former philosophy lecturer and candidate of the Social Renewal Party (PRS). International election observers considered both rounds generally free and fair. Vieira was sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Guinea-Bissau on 29 September 1994.
Following a failed coup attempt against the government in June 1998, the country descended into a brief but violent civil war between forces loyal to Vieira and those loyal to rebel leader Ansumane Mané. Rebels finally deposed the government of João Vieira in a renewed outbreak of fighting on 7 May 1999. He sought refuge in the Portuguese embassy and went into exile in Portugal in June.
On April 7, 2005, nearly two years after another military coup toppled the government of President Kumba Yalá, Vieira returned to Bissau from Portugal. Later in the month, he announced that he would run for president in the election in June. Although many considered Vieira to be ineligible because of legal charges against him and because he had been living in exile, he was cleared to stand in the election by the Supreme Court in May 2005, along with Yalá. His old party, the PAIGC, backed former interim president Malam Bacai Sanhá as its candidate.
According to official results, Vieira came in second in the 19 June election with 28.87% of the vote, behind Malam Bacai Sanhá, and thus participated in the second round run-off. He officially defeated Sanhá in the run-off on 24 July with 52.35% of the vote and was sworn in as president on 1 October.
On October 28, 2005, Vieira announced the dissolution of the government headed by his rival Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, citing the need to maintain stability; on November 2 he appointed his political ally Aristides Gomes to the position.
