They will elect their new president of the republic. This Sunday, October 18, the Guineans went to vote in the first round of the presidential election. An election under tension. The issue is the controversial candidacy of Alpha Condé, the outgoing president who is running for a third term.
These presidential elections were marked by socio-political unrest during the campaign period, which led to political divisions. Many demonstrations were organized by civil society supported by opposition leaders to say no to the outgoing president’s third term in vain.
On the political ring, now, Alpha Condé faces eleven other candidates including former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, the opposition leader, who says he is already confident and warns of any possible fraud by the opposing camp and has gold and already indicated, that it will not accept the results of those ballot boxes where the outgoing President was not entitled to stand for a third term. 62 years since Guinea gained its independence. The country has still not had the opportunity to experience a transfer of power between an outgoing president and his elected challenger.
To prevent any tension from the outside and to secure the smooth running of the election, the Guinean government has closed the country’s borders. Internet access has also been restricted for security reasons. The list of observers in the country includes the ECOWAS. Civil society was present on the ground to ensure that the election took place in good conditions.
On this day of a major political event, the voters’ votes would have been relatively calm. 15,000 polling stations throughout the territory opened from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., local time. According to the National Electoral Commission, the provisional results would be published within three days of receipt of the last count of the polling station. It will remain for the constitutional court to give the name of the winner within eight days. This brings us back to the other major issue of this election: the acceptance of the results at the end of the election. The opposition leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo, has already indicated that he will not accept results that, in his opinion, do not reflect those taken out of the ballot box. A possible second round is scheduled for November 24, 2020.
