Guineans in Bissau are voting peacefully on Sunday to elect their next president and parliament, hoping to turn the page on political turmoil but in the absence of the main opposition party and its candidate.

Some 860,000 voters are called upon to choose from 12 presidential candidates, with the major issue being stability in a country that has lived since its independence to the rhythm of political crises, with four coups d'état and a plethora of attempted putsch.

"I have been voting since I was young but since then there has been no change in the country. This time, I hope it will be the right one," Mayo Sa, a 53-year-old construction worker, wearing a hard hat, told AFP at a polling station in the capital.

Voters turned out in small numbers at polling stations Sunday morning, with only a few people queuing to cast their ballots, AFP journalists observed.

Danaya Diatta, 25, proudly showed her index finger stained with indelible black ink, a sign that she had already voted. "I am very happy to have fulfilled my civic duty. It was important to me because I want a better future for my country," confided the young finance graduate.

With nearly 40% of its population living below the poverty line, Guinea-Bissau is among the poorest countries in the world and is reputed to be a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, facilitated by the country's political instability.

The polling stations are scheduled to close at 5:00 PM. The first provisional results are expected no later than Thursday.

"The vote is taking place in a peaceful atmosphere. No disturbances have been noted so far," said the deputy executive secretary of the National Elections Commission (CNE), Idriça Djalo, without giving figures on the participation rate at midday.

"I call on the population to go out and vote massively," said outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embalo after voting in his stronghold in the east of the country, 200 kilometers from Bissau.

He also warned the 11 other candidates against any attempt to announce the results in advance: "The only entity authorized to do so is the CNE," he cautioned, dressed in a white shirt and wearing his famous red and white keffiyeh.

Mr. Embalo, 53, is considered the favorite to win the election in the first round. He would then become the first head of state of Guinea-Bissau to serve two consecutive terms since the introduction of multi-party politics in 1994.

His main opponent will be opposition leader Fernando Dias, who has received the support of the powerful PAIGC, the former single party and main opposition party, whose leader Domingos Simoes Pereira was unable to run.

The candidacy of Mr. Pereira, a long-time rival of Mr. Embalo who recently returned from exile to run, was rejected by the Supreme Court, which ruled that his application had been filed too late.

- "Manipulation" -

The PAIGC, the historic party that led the country to independence by force of arms in 1974, was excluded - also for a case that was too late - from the legislative elections which are also being held on Sunday, during which the 102 members of Parliament will be elected.

It was dissolved in December 2023, when it was dominated by the opposition, by President Embalo who has since governed by decree.

The opposition describes the exclusion of the PAIGC from the presidential and legislative elections as "manipulation" and believes that President Embalo's mandate expired on February 27, five years to the day after his inauguration.

Despite these criticisms, the campaign, which ended Friday evening, unfolded in a festive atmosphere across the country. No incidents were reported.

Lucia Bird, director of the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa, points out, however, that in Guinea-Bissau, "problems generally arise after elections." She says she fears, as in 2019, "allegations of irregularities" after the vote.

More than 6,700 members of the security forces, including elements of the stabilization force of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), were deployed to secure the election and the post-election period.

Airspace as well as land and sea borders are closed all day Sunday.