Guinea-Bissau's Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. attends the funeral of President Malam Bacai Sanhá in Bissau on Jan. 15, 2012
A presidential election takes place March 18 in politically unstable Guinea-Bissau — a former Portuguese colony along Africa’s west coast, sandwiched between Guinea and Senegal — following the death of previous President Malam Bacai Sanhá on Jan. 9 in a Paris hospital after a long illness. He’s the fourth consecutive President in the coup-prone country, which has become one of the main transit points for trafficking cocaine to Europe, not to see out a five-year term; the previous three were either ousted or killed. Carlos Gomes Jr. of the PAIGC party, who resigned as Prime Minister on Feb. 10 to stand in the two-round contest, is the leading contender, alongside three other candidates. Violence has already marred the run-up; a Feb. 20 demonstration in front of the Electoral National Commission by youth activists demanding their names be put on the candidates list led to clashes with the police and military.