Victor Saúde Maria

Victor Saúde Maria, 1980

Victor Saúde Maria (* 1939 ; † October 25, 1999 ) was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 1982 to 1984 .

Political career

He belonged since the time of the War of Independence against Portugal the party Partido Africano da Indepencia since Guinea e Cabo Verde ( PAIGC ), which ruled the country until the 1999th After independence in 1974 he became foreign minister . On May 14, 1982 he became Prime Minister under the head of state João Bernardo Vieira, who came to power in a coup in 1980 . Some ministers in his government were dismissed in August 1983 on charges of corruption . Vieira appointed him shortly afterwards as a member of the newly formed National Security Council.

On March 10, 1984 he was deposed by Vieira for “conspiracy” and initially found asylum in the Portuguese embassy . After leaving the embassy at the end of March, he was placed under house arrest. With the entry into force of the new constitution, the office of prime minister ceased and Vieira became head of state and government.

After the approval of other parties besides the previous unity party PAIGC, he founded the social democratic party Partido Unido Social Democrático (PUSD) in 1992 , which he led until his death. In the first free presidential election he ran for his PUSD and reached seventh place in the first ballot on July 3, 1994 with 6,388 votes (2.07%). In June 1999, after Vieira was overthrown, he was head of a Guinea-Bissau delegation that went to Senegal for negotiations . He was murdered on October 25, 1999.

swell

• Fischer World Almanac , 1984 and 1985

Web links

• Election results in African Elections Database (English)