Opposition parties in Guinea, which is due to hold a parliamentary vote in December, may hold “peaceful protests” if the country’s electoral commission isn’t dismissed, said Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, the head of one of the groups.
The members of 19 parties, including former prime ministers and 2010 presidential candidates Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sidya Toure, plan to start demonstrations on Sept. 27, Diallo, who heads the Nouvelles Forces Democratiques party, said by phone today from Conakry, the capital.
The groups allege the government is making “one-sided” decisions with the commission, said Diallo, who was farming minister during a military-led transitional administration that held power following the 2008 death of President Lansana Conte.
In August, the opposition parties said the commission had lost credibility during the last year’s presidential election campaign. Siaka Toumany Sangare, an army general from Mali, was made interim head of the commission less than a month before the Nov. 7 presidential runoff. That second-round vote was delayed at least twice and took place more than four months after the first.
Lounseny Camara, president of the electoral commission, rejected the opposition groups’ call today. “It is not for these parties to decide the dissolution of the electoral commission,” he said by phone. “We will not stop the electoral process.”
Source: Guinea’s Opposition May Protest Over Electoral Commission – Bloomberg.
