At Stake in this Election: 

• All 102 seats in the Bissau-Guinean National People’s Assembly  

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Umaro Sissoko EMBALÓ (since 27 February 2020) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Nuno NABIAM (since 27 February 2020) 

• Assembly: unicameral National People’s Assembly (Assembleia Nacional Popular) with 102 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two election rounds. The President may serve up to two 5-year terms consecutively. 

• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president in consultation with party leaders. 

• In the National People’s Assembly, 100 members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote. The remaining 2 members are directly elected from two single-seat overseas constituencies (Africa and Europe). 

Last Election: 

In 2019, the PAIGC won the most seats (47), but did not secure a majority. Madem-G15 won 27 seats, followed by the Party for Social Renewal (21), APU-PDGB (5), the New Democratic Party (1), and the Union for Change (1). Voter turnout was 79%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

The National People’s assembly was dissolved in May of 2022 by President Embaló, and elections were originally scheduled for December 2022. However, the government and major political parties agreed to delay the election to allow more time to reregister voters and avoid a rainy season election. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 5 April 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 24 February 2023 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• Inclusive Alliance Platform – Terra Ranka / Plataforma Aliança Inclusiva – Terra Ranka  

• 5-party coalition including PAIGC, UM, PCD, PSD, MDG 

  • African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde / Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) 

• Leader: Domingos Simões PEREIRA 

• Seats won in last election: 47 out of 102 

• Union for Change / União para a Mudança (UM) 

• Leader: Agnelo REGALA 

• Seats won in last election: 1 out of 102 

• Movement for Democratic Alternation, Group of 15 / Movimento para Alternância Democrática, Grupo dos 15 (MADEM-G15) 

• Leader: Braima CAMARÁ 

• Seats won in last election: 27 out of 102 

• Party for Social Renewal / Partido da Renovação Social (PRS) 

• Leader: Fernando DIAS 

• Seats won in last election: 21 out of 102 

• Assembly of United People – Democratic Party of Guinea Bissau / Assembleia do Povo Unido – Partido Democrático da Guiné-Bissau (APU-PDGB) 

• Leader: Nuno Gomes NABIAM 

• Seats won in last election: 5 out of 102 

• New Democratic Party / Partido da Nova Democracia (PND) 

• Seats won in last election: 1 out of 102 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 2,078,820 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 884,134 (2023 est.) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 1,060,622 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 July 1980, Ratified 23 August 1985 

• Gender Quota: At least 36% of the candidates on each party list must be women. 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 14 out of 102 (13.7%) in the National People’s Assembly 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.483, Low, Rank 177 (2021) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Unavailable (2023)  

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 24 September 2013, Ratified 24 September 2014 

• Projected population with a disability: 311,823 (2023 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Guinea-Bissau: No  

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 2 resources