Guinea-Bissau coup leaders announce transition president

Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo has been picked as Guinea-Bissau's transition president.

(CNN) -- Guinea-Bissau political parties announced a president to lead a transitional government that would rule for up to two years, the proposed timeframe for planning new elections.

The military junta and two dozen political parties that make up the transitional council unanimously picked Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, they said in a joint statement Thursday.

The ruling party, which was overthrown in a coup last week, was not involved in the process.

Nhamajo came in third place in the first round of the presidential election in March and was among a group of candidates protesting the results as fraudulent. The runoff election was scheduled for April 29.

The transitional council also picked Braima Sori Djalo -- a top opposition official -- as its leader.

Transitional council officials will run the nation for up to two years, at the end of which a new president and parliament is expected to be elected, officials said.

The country's judiciary and military will remain in place during the plan, with the latter saying it will submit to civilian power once those institutions are set up.

Military commanders seized power from interim President Raimundo Pereira and former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. last week, keeping them in custody for what they described as "security reasons."

The president and prime minister will be released once a government is in place and a ministry of interior is set up to provide security to all citizens, according to Lt. Col. Daba Naualna, a military spokesman.

The coup took place just before the second round of presidential elections scheduled for later this month, sparking international condemnation and calls for a return to civilian rule by the African Union, Western powers and the regional Economic Community of West African States.

African Union officials suspended Guinea-Bissau "until the restoration of constitutional order," while ECOWAS has said it has "zero tolerance for power obtained by unconstitutional means."

Both bodies also condemned the formation of a transitional council, with the West African states decrying the military junta for reneging on an agreement to return to constitutional rule.

"The junta had given a written undertaking following its meeting with a high-level ECOWAS delegation ... to step aside to pave the way for the immediate return to constitutional normality," the group of West African states said in a statement Thursday.

The military junta has said the revolt was in response to a "secret deal" between the government and Angola to allow Angolan troops in the country to attack the military.

Angola said it has a number of troops in Guinea-Bissau to help reform the country's armed forces, but said it would unilaterally withdraw them. The junta insisted that the African Union, whose rotating presidency is currently held by Angola, supports intervention by Angolan forces.

Coups and coup attempts are common in Guinea-Bissau since it won independence from Portugal in 1974. To date, no democratically elected president of the country has served a full five-year term.

Pereira became interim president after the January death of incumbent Malam Bacai Sanha after a long illness. Sanha had become president in September 2009 after the assassination of his predecessor.