Guinea Bissau has scheduled presidential and legislative elections to be held on December 6, following a coup in the troubled West African nation late last year that disrupted the electoral process.

The date was set by presidential decree signed on Wednesday.

Army officers in the West African state seized power on November 26, a day before the electoral commission was due to announce the results of a contested election.

The soldiers, calling themselves the Military High Command, toppled incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president the following day.

The coup was criticised by the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc, which called on them to restore order and proceed with the election. However, Guinea-Bissau's electoral commission said it was unable to complete the election process after armed men seized ballots and destroyed servers storing the results.