Voters in Guinea-Bissau have approved a new constitution that significantly expands presidential powers, in a referendum organised by the military government that seized control last November after a disputed election. The changes let the president appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet, create or abolish ministries, and dissolve parliament during a "grave political crisis", shifting the balance of power in the country's semi-presidential system away from parliament and the premiership. The vote matters because it will shape governance ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due in December, which the junta says are meant to restore civilian rule, though critics fear it instead entrenches military-backed authority.

Provisional results showed 70% backed the changes against 30% opposed, on turnout of nearly 60%, though the main opposition party, the PAIGC, boycotted the vote and its leader accused organisers of undermining democracy; some activists claimed roughly 90% of registered voters stayed away. The new charter also cuts parliamentary seats from 102 to 65, reduces electoral constituencies from 29 to 12, and requires presidential candidates to have lived in the country continuously for the previous five years, while keeping the five-year, two-term presidential limit. Guinea-Bissau, among the world's poorest nations and dubbed a "narco-state" by the UN due to drug trafficking through its islands, has seen at least nine coup attempts since independence from Portugal in 1974, and the December elections will test whether the military follows through on its pledge to hand back power.