Guinea-Bissau dissolves parliament after court order

Tue Aug 5, 2008 3:11pm EDT

BISSAU Aug 5 (Reuters) - Guinea Bissau's president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, leaving a commission of lawmakers to run the institution until new legislative elections already scheduled for Nov. 16., a decree said.

The West African nation's supreme court ruled at the weekend that a law passed in April extending parliament's mandate after its four-year mandate expired that month was unconstitutional.

President Joao Bernardo Vieira's dissolution of the legislature deepens a political crisis in the former Portuguese colony.

The main opposition pulled out of the unity government just over a week ago after the prime minister sacked a number of its nominees from senior government posts without informing party leaders.

The November polls will test Guinea-Bissau's attempt to restore stability after years of crises, coups and uprisings since independence in 1974.

Tensions are also fuelled by fears the country is being swamped by a surge of Latin American drug smugglers who have turned it into a drug hub by taking advantage of a long, unprotected coastline and corrupt local officials.

Dissolving parliament was intended to help resolve the current political crisis, Vieira's decree said.

Vieira ruled Guinea-Bissau for nearly 20 years before he was overthrown in a 1998-1999 civil war.

He returned from exile to win a controversial election in 2005, two years after soldiers overthrew his predecessor but has had a tricky relationship with the parties in his coalition. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com) (Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by David Lewis; editing by Alistair Thomson)

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