Yearbook 2003
Guinea. In the fall, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch accused the country of violating the UN arms embargo on Liberia by supplying arms to the Liberian rebel group LURD.
At the end of October, presidential elections were announced until December 21. Only two candidates stood, the incumbent President Lansana Conté and the one also in Guinea almost unknown Mamadou Bhoye, who was said to be a close friend of Conté. Six other candidates were rejected by the Supreme Court. One candidate was disqualified for not paying a fee to set up, another was not considered to have stated the correct date of birth.
According to Countryaah.com, Guinea Independence Day is October 2. The opposition parties decided to boycott the election, i.e. citing that the government had refused to fulfill their demands for an independent electoral commission and to give them more room in the state media. The EU did not send any observers to the elections and did not offer any financial assistance. President Conté, who was said to be severely ill, did not participate in the electoral movement himself. Just a month before the election, opposition politician Jean Marie Dore was arrested after criticizing the president in a radio interview. However, he was released after a short time.
In November, about ten soldiers were arrested. The authorities gave no explanation for the arrests, but Conté had previously warned the army to try to seize power in a coup. Conté won, as expected, with just over 95% of the vote. According to official figures, 86% of voters voted. According to the opposition, turnout was only 15%.
August
President Alpha Condé is running in the presidential election
31 August
President Alpha Condé will run in this autumn’s presidential election after being nominated by the ruling Guinean People’s Coalition Party (RPG). The opposition believes, however, that Condé thereby violates the constitution, which stipulates that a president may only sit in power for two terms. However, the ruling party believes that he can run because the country adopted a new constitution earlier this year and that the limitation on the number of terms of office applies since then and not from Condé’s accession to power (see March and April 2020).
Ready for presidential election in October
August 11th
Guinea will hold presidential elections on October 18. This was announced by President Alpha Condé in a television speech. The president has not yet formally declared whether he intends to stand for re-election or not, but the ruling Guinean People’s Coalition Party (RPG) has nominated him as its candidate in the election. Condé has already served two terms, but since a new constitution was approved in a referendum in the spring (see March 2020), he can probably claim that new rules apply.
Republic of Guinea Brief Guide
According to AbbreviationFinder, Guinea is a state in West Africa. Its neighbors are Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. The name “Guinea” comes from the Sahrawi Berber language and means “land of black men”.