Guinea-Bissau's main opposition figure, former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, is not among the candidates authorized to run in the November 23 presidential election, according to a provisional list that includes outgoing head of state Umaro Sissoco Embalo and was published Monday by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Pereira leads the Pai-Terra Ranka opposition coalition, which brings together around ten political parties, including the PAIGC, the historic party that led to the independence of Guinea-Bissau, of which he is also the leader.

This coalition, of which he is the head of the list, had already been excluded from the legislative elections, scheduled at the same time as the presidential election, at the end of September by the same court, in particular due to the late submission of its application.

"The coalition has no legal personality. It is not recognized as such" by the Court, Foreign Minister Carlos Pinto Pereira, also a PAIGC official, explained to the press on Monday.

An appeal filed by Pai-Terra Ranka was, according to him, dismissed.

The Supreme Court has selected a provisional list of 12 candidates for the November 23 election, according to the statement released Monday.

Of the 14 applications submitted, 12 were approved, including those of President Embalo and former President José Mario Vaz (2014-2019). One candidate withdrew.

The final list of candidates must be published by the Supreme Court before October 23.

Mr. Pereira returned from a nine-month exile on September 19 to run for president.

This long-time opponent of President Embalo - whose rival he was in the last presidential election in 2019 during a contested election - is being prosecuted and was in exile because he said he feared for his life.

The PAIGC had largely won the last legislative elections of 2023, gaining 54 seats out of 102 in the Assembly and forcing President Embalo into a tense cohabitation.

Mr. Embalo dissolved the opposition-backed parliament in December 2023, three days after armed clashes he described as an attempted coup.

The opposition led by Mr. Pereira considers that Mr. Embalo's mandate, sworn in on February 27, 2020 for a five-year term, has expired.

A former Portuguese colony in West Africa, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four successful coups since its independence (the last in 2012), 17 attempted coups and a succession of governments.