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Guinea-Bissau votes in watershed elections

Among the presidential hopefuls are political heavyweights such as former finance minister Jose Mario Vaz, and Abel Incada, a member of the Party for Social Renewal of former president Kumba Yala, who died last week.

The dark horse, however, could be 50-year-old independent candidate Paulo Gomes, an unusual proposition in a political landscape hitherto dominated by political grandees who made their names during the war of independence.

A gifted economist who has spent most of his life working abroad, including as the leader of the World Bank’s sub-Saharan Africa division, he believes he has the know-how to begin to turn around the country’s fortunes.

As he cast his vote in Bissau, he said his country was “bruised” and needed to be put “back on track”.

“Even if we lose, we have to roll up our sleeves and help the new government,” he added.

In a polling booth in Bissau, housewife Hawa Sonko, 42, said she had performed “a simple but very important act”.

“My vote is like a rope that is going to help my country out of the hole. Guinea-Bissau has suffered since 2012.”

The much-delayed elections are the first since Antonio Indjai, a former army chief of staff, agreed in May 2012 to hand power to a civilian transitional regime headed by President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.

Although campaigning ended on Friday with no major security incident, polling is being supervised by 4,200 Bissau-Guinean and West African soldiers.

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More than 500 international observers will decide whether voting has been free and credible.

Guinea-Bissau is ranked 177th out of 187 in the UN human development index, and two-thirds of the population are living below the poverty line.

The ICG has urged donors to be ready after the election to help the government pay immediate expenses, including public sector wages, provide long-term funding for development programmes and push for improved economic governance.

If no clear winner emerges, a presidential runoff is scheduled on May 18.

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