Is Guinea Bissau swapping constant deadlock for a super presidency? Voters have just backed a new constitution that hands huge power to the president.

Provisional results show about 70 percent voted yes and 30 percent voted no. Turnout was put at just under 60 percent, though activists dispute that figure.

The referendum was organised by the military government that took power last November. The new text lets the president appoint and sack the prime minister and cabinet, create or scrap ministries and dissolve parliament in a grave political crisis. Parliament will shrink from 102 seats to 65.

The ruling generals say this will end years of fights between presidents and prime ministers. The main opposition PAIGC boycotted the vote, saying it lacks safeguards and risks putting too much power in one office.

Background matters here. Guinea Bissau has about 2.1 million people and is one of the poorest states in the world. Since independence from Portugal in 1974 it has seen at least nine coups or coup attempts.

Its Bijagos islands have made it a key transit point for drug trafficking, which led the UN to call it a narco state.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are now set for December.

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