(4 minutes read)
· Guinean president Alpha Conde’ seems to be caught up in a
tricky situation , while he intends to hold legislative elections and
a constitutional referendum on March 1.
· Both EU and the US hold the same view that the preparations
for the electoral process and the decision to merge the parliamentary
elections of 1 March 2020 with a constitutional referendum are deeply
dividing the country.
· Guinea has been witnessing massive protests against the plan
of the president to seek another term, incidentally the third, having
completed two terms after being elected in 2010 and re-elected in
2015.
Guinean president Alpha Conde’ seems to be caught up in a tricky
situation , while he intends to hold legislative elections and a
constitutional referendum on March 1. The draft of the new
constitution released in December for public debate and suggestions,
it is reported, would be put to a referendum in less than a month.
But the opposition suspects that the adoption of a new constitution
will serve as a pretext for Mr. Condé, 81 to continue in office
without giving much time to the opposition to marshal their strength
to fight the election.
Both EU and the US hold the same view that the preparations for the
electoral process and the decision to merge the parliamentary
elections of 1 March 2020 with a constitutional referendum are deeply
dividing the country. They maintain that an inclusive dialogue should
take place on the new constitution before the electoral process gets
initiated to ensure transparency and to ensure e all stakeholders
participation in the democratic process.
While the European Union assured that it could contribute to the
facilitation of an inclusive dialogue in partnership with regional and
international players, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in a
Twitter called on parties to peacefully resolve issues with voters
rolls and uphold their commitment to conduct an inclusive consultation
on the new constitution. He also called on all parties to engage in a
non-violent civil dialogue.
Mr. Condé is the first democratically elected president of Guinea in
2010 while in exile and later in prison. A poor country with roughly
13 million people, Guinea is gifted with huge natural resources.
Ironically, Conde’s name is synonymous with the end of a long military
rule in the country, but later the opposition says that he had become
a dictator.
Guinea has been witnessing massive protests against the plan of the
president to seek another term, incidentally the third, having
completed two terms after being elected in 2010 and re-elected in
2015. His purported move to contest for the third term did not go well
with the opposition parties. His penchant for suppressing dissent is
well known.
Conde was recently in the US and had a meeting with Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo. The version of the President about the referendum
of the new constitution and announcement election is that Guinea is a
sovereign nation that could use legal means to change its laws.
He accused the opposition for raking up issues regarding election and
asserted that the voters roll was compiled through a transparent
process. The opposition threatens that it would boycott the
legislative polls and even challenged the government to hold the
election, which on the first place, it would not allow.
