Yesterday in São Tomé and Príncipe, the UN Secretary-General's representative for Central Africa called for an in-depth reflection on strategies to anticipate and prevent unconstitutional changes on the continent, referring to the reappearance of cases since 2020.

According to the representative of the UN Secretary-General, "from the point of view of many observers, coups d'état in Africa have fallen significantly since 2000", but he pointed to a "new trend between 2020 and July 2023", when "four coups d'état were successfully carried out" in the French-speaking area, namely in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as in Gabon.

"The authorities responsible for the coups increasingly point to the inability of the power that emerged from the elections to effectively manage insecurity, terrorism and political and economic governance. Are these arguments enough to justify refusing to return to constitutional order by extending the transition period?" he asked.

Abarry said that the African Union Security Council "denounced the shortcomings in governance", but also "selfishness, mismanagement of opportunities, marginalization, abuse of human rights, refusal to accept electoral defeat, manipulation of the Constitution, as well as the unconstitutional revision of the Constitution in favour of foreign interests and corruption as frequent causes for anti-constitutional government changes".

"We also have to ask ourselves whether the unconstitutional changes are simply the fault of democracy or, on the contrary, the manifestation of a deep feeling of rejection of a type of politics that is incapable of solving problems and which is being challenged by a youth that is uncomplicated and eager for change," he added.

For Abarry, "the wind of change within states" requires in-depth reflection "in order to anticipate and prevent unconstitutional changes", and the causes of this phenomenon must be examined "in order to find the contradictions between the desire to challenge the established order and the desire for emancipation and freedom expressed by the population in these changes".

"The coup d'état cannot just be a political pathology," but must be analyzed as a "manifestation of a new way of perceiving and thinking about power and social relations in Africa," Abarry argued.

The UN representative justified the choice of São Tomé and Príncipe to host the event as "recognition of the vitality of democracy in this country".

The Prime Minister of São Tomé argued that "it is necessary and urgent" to deeply analyze "the causes and consequences of anti-constitutional changes of political regimes and governments, which theoretically not only contribute to increasing uncertainty, institutional and social instability [...], but which paradoxically are often plebiscitated by the political oppositions and the people in the streets and are treated differently by the international community."

In the case of São Tomé and Príncipe, Patrice Trovoada said that "progress has been made" and that the country remains committed "to improving the justice system and to modernizing the defence and security forces and putting them on a republican footing, with the valuable contribution of the United Nations Peace Building Commission".

the head of the São Toméan government considered that "this is ongoing, permanent work and there is always room for improvement", although he regretted that "the serious financial crisis" that the country is going through does not bring "any additional benefit or sensitivity on the part of rich nations that are considered consolidated democracies". (Minutes)