G. Bissau leader launches campaigning in vote lacking main opposition

__________________

Campaigning for Guinea-Bissau's legislative and presidential elections officially started Saturday, as incumbent Umaro Sissoco Embalo rallied supporters in the capital ahead of a November 23 vote in which the main opposition has been disqualified.

Embalo was the only of 12 presidential candidates to begin campaigning on the first day of the three-week period.

He gathered thousands of supporters who wore T-shirts bearing his image and the same red-and-white keffiyehs that he often wears on his head.

His arch-rival Domingos Simoes Pereira met several presidential candidates seeking his support.

Simoes Pereira is barred from the election along with the PAIGC party and Pai Terra Ranka coalition which he leads.

He ultimately signed an agreement with independent candidate Fernando Dias, committing PAIGC's support for his candidacy in the election's first round.

The official campaign period began one day after Guinea-Bissau's army said it had thwarted an "attempt to subvert the constitutional order" and arrested several senior military officers.

Officials said the episode was "aimed to disrupt the electoral process".

'Justice... for everyone'

Political stability is one of the major issues in the election, with the west African nation having experienced four coups since independence, the last of which was in 2012.

At Saturday's rally, held at a public square halfway between the city centre and the airport, Embalo alluded to the alleged subversion attempt.

"Justice will be for everyone in this country. And no one will be above it," he told supporters.

He additionally said he and his prime minister had decided against wearing bullet-proof jackets, lifting his shirt to show the crowd.

Embalo is supported by the No Kumpu Guine platform, a coalition of 19 political parties backing his candidacy.

Former prime minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam, wearing a red-and-white keffiyeh around his neck, told AFP he was supporting Embalo "because we know that with him, the stability of our country will be guaranteed".

Felix Nandungue, leader of the Social Renewal Party, a member of the No Kumpu Guine platform, said he believed with Embalo "victory is guaranteed in the first round".

The vote marks the first time in Guinea-Bissau's history that the PAIGC party, which led the former Portuguese colony to independence in 1974, will be absent from the ballot.

Pereira, Pai Terra Ranka and PAIGC were struck from the final list of parties and candidates published in October by Guinea-Bissau's Supreme Court. It ruled they had filed their official applications too late.

Experts say Embalo's victory is much more likely given the elimination of his most serious opponent.

A total of 14 parties, including the No Kumpu Guine coalition, will run for the 102 seats in parliament.