Guinea-Bissau's main opposition leader, former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, was excluded from a provisional list of presidential candidates published by the Supreme Court on Monday ahead of November elections.

Pereira heads the main opposition coalition Pai Terra Ranka comprised of around 10 political parties, including his PAIGC party that led the former Portuguese colony to independence.

The Supreme Court, already at the end of September, excluded the coalition from legislative elections, which are scheduled for the same day as the presidential vote, over a late application submission.

Eduardo Sanca, a member of the PAIGC party's central committee, said Pereira had submitted his PAIGC candidacy too late after first trying to register for the election under the coalition, which was not allowed.

Incumbent president to seek re-election

Of the 14 applications submitted, the Supreme Court's provisional list for the November 23 election included 12 after one withdrew.

The list includes incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and former President Jose Mario Vaz (2014-2019).

A final list of candidates must be published before October 23.

Pereira returned to Guinea-Bissau in late September after spending nine months abroad.

Fierce opponents

Embalo and Pereira were chief opponents in the last presidential election in 2019, after which Pereira contested his defeat.

Embalo, who was sworn in for a five-year term in February 2020, pushed elections back to November 2025, citing logistical and financial difficulties.

In 2023, Embalo dissolved Guinea-Bissau's parliament, at the time dominated by the opposition, following armed clashes the president branded an attempted coup.