Outgoing President Alpha Condé won the presidential elections on October 18 in Guinea, according to preliminary data provided by the country’s electoral commission. Condé obtained 59.5 percent of the votes and will therefore be able to start a third term at the helm of Guinea. The news was met with protests, including violent ones, in Conakry, the capital of the country, where the government has ordered the intervention of the army to assist the police against the demonstrators.
The leader of the opposition, Cellou Dalein Diallo, holds for some time there have been electoral fraud and for this he declared himself the winner. During the election campaign there had already been violence between different ethnic groups, a sign that there could have been further unrest following the announcement of the results. In much of Guinea, telephone communications were interrupted and access to the Internet was restricted.
Since the polls closed last Sunday, at least 10 people have died in the clashes, according to local authorities. Other sources, difficult to confirm, speak instead of about twenty deaths.
Condé’s re-nomination was made possible by a change made to the Constitution, through a referendum, and pushed by Condé himself, intending to run for the new presidential elections. The change is opposed by the opposition and has led to large and often violent protests.
Condé is 82 years old and has been president of Guinea since 2010. He was a long-time opponent of General Lansana Conté, who led the country from 1984 until his death in December 2008. Condé is mainly supported by the country’s Malinké community, one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, of which it belongs. However, it is disputed for not having kept the promises of economic revival of the country, which has been in deep crisis for years.
–
