Bissau Digital is reporting that the (relatively) newly elected president of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanhá, is calling for a “profound revision and modernisation” of the constitution, arguing that it was open to interpretation.

Last week, at the opening session of the National Assembly, he made a plea for constitutional reform. The specifics were few, as far as I can tell, though he did call for more transparency and a reform of the justice system.

The constitution of Guinea-Bissau seems to be difficult to come across. For example, the recent reference book by M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig, The Handbook of National Legislatures, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009, only provides details from the 1984 constitution. However, the 1996 version is currently available in Portuguese from the website of the National Assembly.

There was a new government at the end of last month, though, as far as I can tell, it was still a single-party PAIGC government. The number of ministers was reduced, though.