BISSAU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The jurisdictional council of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC, which was ruling Guinea-Bissau until the April 12 coup d'etat), has suspended Manuel Sherifo Nhamadjo, the designated transitional president after the military coup, a statement from this council said on Monday.
According to the statement, Nhamadjo who was defeated during the March presidential elections and was currently serving as deputy speaker of Parliament, was suspended until further notice.
Last week, Nhamadjo turned down the offer by the military officers who carried out the coup d'etat and 19 opposition political parties that had designated him as the interim president, saying that he had not been consulted before the appointment.
He also reaffirmed his membership to PAIGC, a party which has rejected the coup plotters' proposal to put in place transitional structures in Guinea-Bissau for the next two years.
This proposal has also been rejected by the international community including the United Nations, African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which have demanded a return to the constitutional order and the release of ex-prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior as well as the interim president Raimundo Pereira.
