Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Guinea-Bissau

Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Guinea-Bissau

Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
April 15, 2014

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The United States congratulates the people of Guinea-Bissau on the successful completion of peaceful and orderly first-round elections on April 13. These elections are an important step toward building a more stable, prosperous, and democratic future for the Bissau-Guinean people.

We congratulate the Bissau-Guinean people for their patience and civic engagement, and commend the hard work of thousands of Bissau-Guineans who operated more than 3,000 polling stations throughout the country. Their dedicated efforts are powerful testimony of the strong desire of the people of Guinea-Bissau for constitutional and democratic government. We also recognize the Bissau-Guinean security services for their professional conduct on election day, which aided citizens in expressing their will without intimidation. We encourage them to continue to uphold those standards throughout the transition period as a newly-elected government takes office.

The United States looks forward to working with Guinea-Bissau as it seeks to return to democratic rule and to achieve lasting peace in the region. We urge the country's leaders, both civilian and military, to hear the voice of their people and bring the political transition period to a successful conclusion.

ENDS

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