Guinea-Bissau general election, 1994

General elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 3 July 1994, with a second round for the presidential election on 7 August. They were the first multi-party elections since independence, and also the first time the president had been directly elected, as previously the post had been elected by the National People's Assembly. In the presidential election, the result was a victory for incumbent João Bernardo Vieira of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), who defeated Kumba Ialá of Social Renewal Party in the second round. In the Assembly election, 1,136 candidates ran for the 100 seats, of which the PAIGC won 62.^[1]

Voter turnout in the presidential election was 89.3% on 3 July and 81.6% on 7 August.^[2] In the parliamentary election it was 88.9%.^[3]

Results

Presidential election

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
João Bernardo Vieira	African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde	142,577	46.20	161,083	52.02
Kumba Ialá	Party for Social Renewal	67,518	21.88	148,664	47.98
Domingos Fernandes	Resistance of Guinea-Bissau-Bafatá Movement	53,825	17.44
Carlos Gomes	Independent*	15,645	5.07
François Mendy	Struggle Front for the National Independence of Guinea	8,655	2.80
Bubacar Rachid Djaló	Union for Change	8,506	2.76
Victor Saúde Maria	United Social Democratic Party	6,388	2.07
Antonieta Rosa Gomes	Guinean Civic Forum-Social Democracy	5,509	1.79
Invalid/blank votes		49,059	–	16,868	–
Total		357,682	100	326,615	100
Registered voters/turnout		400,417	89.33	400,417	81.57
Source: Nohlen et al.

* Gomes was supported by the Democratic Convergence Party, as its leader Victor Mandinga was not eligible to run for president, as he failed to meet the qualification that both parents be Guineans born in the country.

National People's Assembly

Party	Votes	%	Seats
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde	134,982	46.4	62
Resistance of Guinea-Bissau-Bafatá Movement	57,566	19.8	19
Union for Change	36,797	12.6	6
Party for Social Renewal	29,957	10.3	12
Democratic Convergence Party	15,411	5.3	0
United Social Democratic Party	8,286	2.8	0
Struggle Front for the National Independence of Guinea	7,475	2.6	1
Guinean Civic Forum	494	0.2	0
Invalid/blank votes	65,024	–	–
Total	355,992	100	100
Registered voters/turnout	400,417	88.91	–
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

1. Guinea-Bissau: Parliamentary Chamber: Assembleia nacional popular: Elections held in 1994 Inter-Parliamentary Union
2. Elections in Guinea-Bissau African Elections Database
3. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p467 ISBN 0-19-829645-2