Guinea Bissau Rivals to Meet in Conakry Next Week to End Crisis

(Bloomberg) -- Guinea Bissau’s political rivals will meet next week to discuss a plan aimed at ending a political crisis in the West African nation.

Discussions will start in Guinea’s capital Conakry on Oct. 11 and involve members of parliamentary political parties, civil society and religious leaders, the Guinean president’s office said in a statement. The country is spearheading regional mediation efforts. Its leader, Alpha Conde, met with Guinea Bissau’s President Jose Mario Vaz on Friday.

A six-point plan, which includes a coalition government as well as constitutional and electoral reforms, was accepted last month by the political protagonists.

The crisis in Guinea Bissau deepened in August last year when Vaz dismissed Domingos Simoes Pereira as prime minister. The former Portuguese colony of 1.7 million people has had three coups and one president assassinated since 2009.

--With assistance from Olivier Monnier To contact the reporter on this story: Ougna Camara in Conakry at ocamara@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Jana Randow, Steve Geimann