Aristides Gomes

Who is Aristides Gomes?

Aristides Gomes is the President of the Republican Party of Independence for Development in Guinea-Bissau. He was the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 2 November 2005 until 13 April 2007.

Born in 1954 in Canchungo, Cacheu Region, Gomes attended the University of Paris VIII, where he received a degree in sociology and political science.

A former director-general at Televisão Experimental da Guiné-Bissau, Gomes served as the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation in a past government of President João Bernardo Vieira.

He was a long-time member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, which he joined on 18 December 1973. He was a delegate to the party's Second Extraordinary Congress in January 1991, and at its Sixth Ordinary Congress in May 1998 he was elected to the party's Political Bureau. At PAIGC's Fourth Extraordinary Congress, held in January–February 2002, he was elected as the First Vice-President of the party.

In the March 2004 parliamentary election, Gomes was elected to the National People's Assembly. He was then a candidate for the post of President of the National People's Assembly, but was defeated by Francisco Benante in a vote held by the PAIGC Central Committee in April 2004; he received 71 votes against 106 votes for Benante. Subsequently he was appointed to the government of PAIGC Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior as Minister of Territorial Administration, Administrative Reform, the Civil Service, and Labor on May 11, 2004, but he refused to accept the appointment due to what he described as continued military influence over the government. Later, Gomes was one of the PAIGC leaders on hand to greet Vieira when he returned to Guinea-Bissau from exile on April 7, 2005, and on May 8, 2005 he was suspended from the party for openly supporting Vieira's candidacy against the PAIGC's Malam Bacai Sanhá in the presidential election that took place in June and July 2005. Soon after Vieira's election, Gomes defected from the party, and following Vieira's dismissal of Prime Minister Gomes Júnior on 28 October 2005, he named Gomes as Prime Minister on 2 November. The PAIGC appealed this appointment to the country's Supreme Court, which ruled on 26 January 2006 that Vieira was not required to appoint a PAIGC member as prime minister, validating his appointment of Gomes. The PAIGC denounced the ruling, however.