BISSAU: Guinea-Bissau's new Prime Minister Baciro Dja was sworn in on Friday with a fresh cabinet also anticipated, but current ministers in the split ruling party have declared they will not leave their posts.
The protracted power struggle within the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was laid bare on Thursday when the president named Dja as his choice for premier, nine months after firing party leader Domingos Simoes Pereira from the job.
All three technically belong to the PAIGC. The majority of the party's lawmakers has said they refuse to recognize a head of government appointed by the president, saying the choice of Prime Minister was up to the party according to the constitution.
Dja nevertheless took an oath before President Jose Mario Vaz and the country's most senior Supreme Court judge at a ceremony of dignitaries at the presidential palace on Friday, and promised to fight corruption and promote economic growth. The head of state and his right-hand man will have to contend with ministers from the Pereira government, supposedly fired by Vaz two weeks ago, but who remain holed up in their offices and are refusing to leave.
"We aren't going to give an inch of our offices so they can be occupied by an illegal government," communication minister Agnelo Regala told news agency.
