Francisco Fadul

Francisco José Fadul (born December 15, 1953 ) was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 1998 to 2000 .

Political career

Fadul is of Lebanese descent and a degree in Law at the University of Lisbon .

On December 3, 1998, he became Prime Minister of a transitional government that was supposed to end the civil war that had been going on for several months. Fadul was political advisor to former Foreign Minister, Army Chief of Staff and current leader of the rebellion, Ansumané Mané . Mané's dismissal as chief of staff in June 1998 sparked the civil war. This ended in May 1999 with the overthrow of President João Bernardo Vieira, who had been in power since 1980 . Fadul's relationship with the ousted president, whom he had publicly criticized several times, was considered bad. In an interview with a Portuguese broadcaster, he called for Vieira to be brought to justice for human rights violations.

His term of office ended on February 19, 2000, when, after Kumba Ialá's victory in the presidential elections, a new government was formed under the leadership of his party, Partido para a Renovação Social (PRS). The PRS took first place in the parliamentary elections with 38 of the 102 seats.

Fadul went to Portugal and returned to Guinea-Bissau in March 2003. The Partido Unido Social Democrático (PUSD), founded in 1992 by former Prime Minister Victor Saúde Maria , elected him as its president and won 17.6% of the vote in the parliamentary elections in March 2004. With 17 out of 100 seats, it was the third strongest force in parliament. In the presidential elections on June 19, 2005, to which he was admitted like other prominent candidates only after a decision of the Supreme Court, he reached fourth place with 12,733 votes (2.85%) and was eliminated in the first ballot. In the second ballot, Vieira, who had also returned from Portugal and had been back in office since October 1, 2005, won.

See also

• History of Guinea-Bissau

Web links

• Election results in African Elections Database (English)
• IRIN NEWS about his office, December 3, 1998 (english)
• Photo by Faduls, October 8, 1999 (Portuguese)
• sapo on his return, March 2003 (Portuguese)
• IRIN NEWS about his candidacy, May 19th 2005 (English)