By Kemo Cham
Guineans will now have the opportunity to vote for a new leader later this year, military leader General Mamadi Doumbouya has announced in his New Year message.
Doumbouya who did not give any specific timeline said within the end of the year the country will vote in all levels of elections, including presidential, legislative and local councils.
But before that, he noted, several key milestones will have to be met, notably the adoption of a new constitution through a referendum.
Guinea has been under military rule since September 2021, when Doumbouya, the then head of a Special Forces group in the Guinean army, sized power in a bloody coup that ousted former President Prof. Alpha Conde, who has been living in exile since then.
After pressure from ECOWAS and the international community, the Junta promised to conduct elections and transfer power to a civilian administration by the end of 2024. That didn’t materialize.
The military-led transition administration has always cited the need for a “refoundation of the state” a s a pre-requisite to elections.
But an opposition group called the Forces Vives, which comprises political parties and civil society groups, have vowed to take on the junta to force it to hand over to a civilian administration.
The group had said after December 31st 2024 it would no longer recognize the legitimacy of the junta leadership.
And as part of their proposal for the way forward, they are demanding the formation of a civilian led transition regime.
“There is no relevant, visible or perfectible approach to a return to constitutional order,” Abdoul Sacko, coordinator of the Forum des Forces Sociales de Guinée, one of the groups in the Forces Vives, is quoted.
The opposition say there has been a lack of accountability regarding the technical, administrative, and socio-political processes that led to the failure for the junta to uphold its commitments.
“Responsibility requires us to engage in efforts to inform and mobilize the populace towards a civil transition,” said Sacko.
In his New year message, however, Doumbouya said his goal is to ensure a transition through fair and inclusive elections, noting that the process towards this would begin in the first quarter of 2025 with the signing of a decree to organize a constitutional referendum.
The junta leader also announced that a new electoral code will be finalized within the year to ensure a solid legal framework for the holding of fair and efficient elections.
“The imminent signing of a decree will establish the date for the constitutional referendum in the first quarter of 2025,” he said.
A key obstacle to the completion of the transition has been the lack of a constitution.
A draft constitution which was published a few months ago has been the subject of debate as opposition political parties question the intentions behind some of its provisions.
Doumbouya in his New Year message said the draft document will first be reviewed by a panel of Guinean experts before being submitted for approval by the National Transitional Council.
The referendum, he added, will provide Guinea with a constitution tailored in its social, political and economic realities.
Adopting the constitution, he went on, will mark the end of the transition period.
But the junta leader warned citizens to “respect public order and social peace.”
“Without lasting peace, we cannot achieve our goals. Together, in unity, we will build a modern and prosperous Guinea where the rights of all citizens are protected,” he said.
