Preamble
The Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), founded on September 19th, 1956, has accomplished in an exemplary manner its Minimum Plan [Programa Minimo], which consisted in the liberation of the people of Guinea and Cape Verde, winning the sovereignty of the respective States and, at the same time, launching the foundations for the construction of a free, democratic and socially just nation in each country.
After independence, the Party garnered sympathy, respect and admiration, in both national and international spheres, for the way in which it has conducted the destiny of the Guinean Nation, notably through the creation and institutional development of the State apparatus.
With the Movimento Reajustador of November 14th, the Party has reoriented its actions, correcting the mistakes that were hindering the edification of a united, strong and democratic society.
By adopting the current Constitution, which follows faithfully the thread of institutional evolution that has always reflected the ideas and choices of our people – a policy reaffirmed by the profound transformation being brought about in our society by legality, by right and by the enjoyment of fundamental liberties – the National Popular Assembly of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau reveals that everything it articulates is imbued with the humanism that has always inspired us and that is reflected in our rights and liberties as herein guaranteed to the citizens, as an irreversible victory for our people.
The Popular National Assembly congratulates the PAIGC for the vanguard role it has always performed in conducting the fates of the Guinea nation, and congratulates itself for the courageous and timely decision that the Party of Amilcar Cabral took by overcoming the challenge of democratic opening, towards the construction of a plural, just and free society.
The decision of the PAIGC follows in accordance with its historic tradition of acting at every moment as the repository for the deepest aspirations of our people.
Therefore, acting as a faithful interpreter of the will of the people and exercising its responsibilities as the highest sovereign organ, the National Popular Assembly approves and adopts this Constitution of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau as Fundamental Law, which shall enter into force on May 16th, 1984.
