A July 6 decree signed by Gen. Horta N’Tam, the leader of the High Military Command junta that seized power in November 2025, called for a national referendum on August 30 on constitutional amendments that would grant the president the power to appoint the prime minister, form a government, and dissolve parliament. The amendments were approved without public debate or consultation by the junta-appointed National Transitional Council, the unelected body that replaced parliament after the coup.

The referendum is scheduled ahead of December elections in a climate of fear and repression, with opposition leader Domingo Simões Pereira under house arrest and facing a politically-motivated case. Civil society groups have denounced the referendum as illegal “theatre” and part of the junta’s ongoing subversion of popular will expressed in elections in November 2025. The junta, led by allies of former ruler Umaro Sissoco Embaló, seized power just before the announcement of results that were believed to be unfavorable to Embaló.

The illegal constitutional changes seek to institutionalize the unaccountable presidency that Embaló sought to impose by defying constitutional limits on his powers, waging institutional warfare against the former opposition-dominated parliament, committing extrajudicial and illegal abuses of power, and orchestrating a campaign of repression against dissenters.