No reason was given for the dismissal announced in a presidential decree.

Martins was reappointed as prime minister on Dec. 12. He was first appointed prime minister in August this year. As a former senior executive at the World Bank, he served as minister of finance under former President Jose Mario Vaz. His reappointment last week came after the president dissolved the parliament, following armed clashes that broke out on Dec. 1 in the capital of Bissau between elements of the National Guard and the Presidential Guard.

Embalo described those clashes as an "attempted coup."

A few hours after the dismission, Embalo appointed Rui Duarte Barros as Prime Minister by a presidential decree.

Rui Duarte Barros, who is the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), a political party in Guinea-Bissau, served as transitional prime minister from May 2012 to July 2014 and minister of Economy and Finance in 2002. He was also commissioner of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).