Aristides Gomes

Infobox Prime Minister


name =Aristides Gomes
caption =
order =15th Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau
term_start =November 2 2005
term_end =April 13 2007
deputy =
predecessor =Carlos Gomes Júnior
successor =Martinho Ndafa Kabi
birth_date =Birth date and age|1954|11|8|mf=y
birth_place =
religion =
spouse =
party = Independent

Aristides Gomes (born 8 November 1954 [http://www.paigc.org/aristides.htm Page on Gomes at PAIGC website] pt icon.] ) was the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 2 November 2005 [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49912&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA-BISSAU "President appoints controversial new prime minister"] , IRIN, November 2, 2005.] until 13 April 2007.

Born in 1954 in Canchungo, Cacheu Region, Gomes attended the , where he received a degree in sociology and political science.

A former director-general at "Televisão Experimental da Guiné-Bissau" (1990-1992),Fact|date=March 2008 Gomes served as the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation [http://www.guine-bissau.com/portal.aspx?link=public/viewnews.ascx&menuindex=0&newsid=1094 "Novo Governo: um misto de surpresas"] , Guine-Bissau.com, May 13, 2004 pt icon.] in a past government of President João Bernardo Vieira.

He was a long-time member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which he joined on 18 December 1973. He was a delegate to the party's Second Extraordinary Congress in January 1991, and at its Sixth Ordinary Congress in May 1998 he was elected to the party's Political Bureau. At PAIGC's Fourth Extraordinary Congress, held in January-February 2002, he was elected as the First Vice-President of the party.

Following the PAIGC victory in the March 2004 parliamentary elections, Gomes became Minister of Territorial Administration, Administrative Reform, the Civil Service, and Labor when the new government was sworn in on May 12 2004. [ [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41045&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA-BISSAU "Young technocrats prominent in new elected government"] , IRIN, May 13, 2004.] Gomes was one of the PAIGC leaders on hand to greet Vieira when he returned to Guinea-Bissau from exile on April 7 2005, [ [http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=53798 "Nino Vieira returns from exile to a hero's welcome"] , IRIN, April 7, 2005.] and in May 2005 he was suspended from the party for openly supporting Vieira's candidacy against the PAIGC's Malam Bacai Sanhá in the presidential election that took place in June and July 2005. Soon after Vieira's election, Gomes defected from the party, and following Vieira's dismissal of PAIGC Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior on 28 October, he named Gomes as Prime Minister on 2 November. The PAIGC appealed this appointment to the country's Supreme Court, which ruled on 26 January 2006 that Vieira was not required to appoint a PAIGC member as prime minister, validating his appointment of Gomes. The PAIGC denounced the ruling, however. [ [http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=57970 "High court deems new premier legal, sparks protests from leading party"] , IRIN, January 30, 2006.]

On 12 March 2007, the PAIGC, Party of Social Renewal (PRS), and United Social Democratic Party agreed to form a new government together. Vieira appeared unwilling to dissolve Gomes' government, however; the director of the cabinet said that there was "no valid reason" to do so, [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070313231746241C654497 "Vieira rejects calls to dissolve government"] , AFP ("IOL"), March 14, 2007.] and Vieira's allies rejected the pact between the parties, saying that they would try to have it legally annulled. [ [http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=517120 "New political crisis looms in Guinea Bissau"] , AngolaPress, March 16, 2007.] On 19 March, parliament passed a motion of no confidence against Gomes' government, with 54 votes in favor of it, while 28 voted against the motion, eight abstained, and ten were not present. [http://www.izf.net/IZF/Actualite/RDP/Guinebissau.htm "Guinée Bissau: L'Assemblée nationale a voté lundi une motion de censure à l'encontre du gouvernement du Premier ministre Aristide Gomes, qui devrait être dissout dans les 72 heures par le président Joao Bernardo Vieira"] , AFP (izf.net), March 19, 2007.] [http://www.izf.net/IZF/Actualite/RDP/Guinebissau.htm "Guinée-Bissau: le Premier ministre Aristide Gomes a présenté sa démission et celle de son gouvernement après le vote d'une motion de censure contre son gouvernement"] , AFP (izf.net), March 29, 2007 fr icon.] Although the parties together held a total of 97 out of 100 seats, some of their deputies supported Gomes. Gomes announced on 29 March that he had presented his resignation to Vieira, and said that he was still awaiting a response from Vieira. He said that he would be willing to continue in the position if he had Vieira's confidence, and he blamed the PRS for his difficult situation. On 9 April, Vieira appointed the three-party coalition's proposed candidate, Martinho Ndafa Kabi of the PAIGC, as the new prime minister, [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=nw20070410123233285C650762 "Guinea-Bissau appoints consensus premier"] , Reuters ("IOL"), April 10, 2007.] and Kabi took office on 13 April. [ [http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366437.html "Martinho Ndafa Kabi takes office as Guinea Bissau PM"] , Xinhua ("People's Daily Online"), April 14, 2007.]

After leaving office, Gomes has faced a legal issue regarding 734 kilograms of drugs that disappeared while he was Prime Minister. According to Gomes, he had ordered the drugs to be stored by the Treasury for safekeeping. [ [http://www.panapress.com/freenewspor.asp?code=por010187&dte=10/11/2007 "Ex-PM bissau-guineense interrogado sobre desaparecimento de droga"] , Panapress, November 10, 2007 pt icon.]

A political party founded by Gomes, the Republican Party of Independence for Development (PRID), opened its constitutive congress on March 7 2008. Gomes is the President of PRID, which supports Vieira and plans to participate in the 2008 parliamentary election. [ [http://www.lemali.fr/afrique/politique/un-ex%11pm-cree-un-parti-politique-en-guinee%11bissau-2008030711970.html "Un ex-PM crée un parti politique en Guinée-Bissau"] , Panapress (lemali.fr), March 7, 2008 fr icon.]

References