Guinea-Bissau president dissolves government in crisis

Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz dissolved the government on Monday in an attempt to solve a political succession crisis that has paralysed the tiny west African state. Guinea-Bissau has been in the throes of a power struggle since August 2015, when Vaz sacked then prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, leader of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).
Two factions of the ruling PAIGC have failed to resolve their differences over Pereira's successor, Baciro Dja, since he was given the job in June, with some lawmakers refusing to work with him. The president said he was dismissing Dja's administration to follow through on an agreement reached between both sides in neighbouring Guinea last month, with a view to ending the crisis. "Putting into action the Conakry accord means the government resigning," Vaz told gathered journalists in the capital, Bissau.