Why Guinea’s Election Crisis Matters by Peter Pham

The Guinean opposition has always enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of Guineans, as evidenced in this 2013 video.

The following article appeared in the April 23, 2015 issue of the US News and World Report. You will not find a better assessment of the dire political situation in Guinea today.  The author, Peter Pham, is to be commended for his research and for parsing out the truth often masked by government disinformation campaigns.

Why Guinea’s Election Crisis Matters
The country is key to maintaining peace and stability in West Africa.

Guinea security forces and protesters on Monday, April 13, 2015.
By J. Peter Pham April 23, 2015 | 11:00 a.m. EDT + More

The international community breathed a collective sigh of relief following the recent presidential, parliamentary and gubernatorial elections in Nigeria. Although the competition was the fiercest Nigerians have ever seen and the polls were marred by some irregularities and a few regrettable episodes of violence, the graceful concession of the defeated incumbent president and the magnanimity of his challenger pave the way for next month’s historic peaceful, democratic handover of power in Africa’s most populous country. It is a significant milestone, not only for Nigeria, but for Africa as a whole.
But imagine what would have happened if President Goodluck Jonathan had rigged the election process or simply refused to accept President-elect Muhammadu Buhari’s win at the ballot box? That’s what President Alpha Conde is trying to do in nearby Guinea, a geopolitically sensitive nation in the same West African subregion, where the political upheaval and ethnic conflict being risked could easily spill over into neighboring countries, including Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, all of which are just themselves emerging from prolonged periods of civil strife. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the international community to engage more robustly in Guinea. The good news from Nigeria should not be an excuse for complacency about the prospects for democracy and stability elsewhere in the region.
Moreover, we should not view Guinea merely through the prism of Ebola, despite the efforts of the incumbent president to blame everything on the epidemic of which his country has been the unfortunate epicenter, as he shamelessly did this past week in Washington. Even before the outbreak of deadly disease wreaked havoc with the economy, both urban and rural poverty were increasing during the president’s tenure according to his own finance ministry’s report to the International Monetary Fund. Unable to run on his weak record, Conde, in office since a disputed election in 2010, is using every trick in the book to remain in power. Recently, the regime has been increasingly blatant in rigging the electoral process to ensure that it “wins” the elections scheduled for less than six months from now.
The political opposition realizes that it is being railroaded by the government, which controls the so-called Independent National Electoral Commission. That body has rejiggered the electoral calendar to give an insurmountable advantage to the incumbent president, who has refused to engage in a political dialogue with the opposition for almost a year.
Frustrated by both the government’s intransigence and the international community’s lack of attention, the coalition representing the major opposition parties has taken to the streets to demand free, fair and transparent elections. The peaceful demonstrations, including a massive one planned for this Thursday, have continued despite the regime’s attempts to violently repress them. On Monday, for example, several protesters, including a 15-year-old boy, were wounded when live rounds were fired at them by police.
As a result of these demonstrations, Conde’s government has finally offered to renew dialogue with the opposition. However, Cellou Dalein Diallo, a free-market economist and former prime minister, and other leaders of the opposition coalition have declined to participate in talks with the government until two conditions are met: the pro-government electoral commission must cease to function and be revamped; and the timetable for elections which the commission unilaterally announced must be dropped in favor of one which represents the consensus of all stakeholders. Speaking from Paris on Wednesday, Conde rejected any change to the election timetable.
The preconditions are necessary because opposition leaders do not trust Conde and think that the offer of negotiations is little more than a clever trap, just fruitless dialogue designed to waste time as the electoral clock continues to tick.
The opposition is confident that it has the support of the masses. Of course, it will have to prove that assertion at the polls. But for that to occur, the entire electoral process must be free, fair and transparent. And the process has to begin long before the Oct. 11 date chosen for the presidential vote. The opposition is demanding, quite reasonably, that local elections that Conde has postponed on one pretext or another for more than four years be held before the presidential poll, in accordance with Guinea’s laws as well as the repeated promises of the president himself.
Why is this so important? First, there is no basis in the Guinean constitution for the repeated postponements of these elections and, as a result of them, as both opposition politicians and civil society leaders have pointed out, none of those occupying local government offices – mayors, local council members, ward chiefs, etc. – has a legal mandate. Second, as many observers have noted, the criteria under which these officials have been retained without the consent of their constituents has been their allegiance to the president. Third, these same unelected local officials, dependent as they are upon the incumbent for their livelihood, will be the very people who, at the grassroots level, will not only be determining who can register to vote ahead of the polls and who casts ballots on election day, but will themselves be counting ballots and tabulating results.
Opposition candidates and pro-democracy advocates alike fear, justifiably, based on their experience in the controversial 2010 presidential election from which many reports emerged of fraud, that the process will be corrupted. Thus, these activists have called on the international community, especially the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the European Union, France and the United States, to engage more energetically in Guinea to ensure a level playing field for the upcoming local and presidential elections. Deploying foreign observers to monitor polling sites on election day would be too little too late.
Why does Guinea matter? Why should the international community, with so many crises demanding attention, even care? Guinea matters because it constitutes a case of arrested development, a country which has never realized its ambitions despite extraordinary human and natural resources – among other things, it holds two-thirds of the world’s largest reserve of bauxite, and prodigious amounts of gold, diamonds, iron ore, graphite, manganese and other mineral resources – that could make Guinea potentially one of the richest nations in Africa. Alas, since independence in 1958, the country has been run by a series of authoritarian leaders who have ruled from the top down for the benefit of the fortunate few, not for the entire nation. Moreover, without credible elections, Guinea risks plunging into a profound political crisis and, indeed, outright conflict. Ethnic tensions are already being stoked and, in a region whose borders were very recently shown by the rapid spread of the Ebola virus to be all-too-porous, such conflicts will be impossible to contain.
To head off this very real threat, the international community needs to engage now to ensure free, fair and transparent elections yielding credible results acceptable to all Guineans. It not only matters for the people of Guinea, but is critical to maintaining peace, stability, and democratic gains of the entire region.
J. Peter Pham is director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.

Visit of Alpha Conde to Washington DC: Letter from Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta Djallon to President Obama

Visit OF Mr. Alpha Conde to WASHINGTON.
LETTER of POTTAL-FII-BHANTAL FOUTA DJALLON to MR. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESdes ETAtS-UNIS

Washington, July 15, 2014.

His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama[Mr. President:],
President of the United States of America

Dear Mr. President,
We are honored to address you this letter on the occasion of the invitation you have made to some forty African heads of state[s]s this summer in order to promote democracy and strengthen economic cooperation with the continent. Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon welcomes this initiative. It is an opportunity to thank[ ] the government[Insert US] and the American people for the help they continue to provide to Africa. However, our organization would like to ask you to reconsider the invitation you have extended to the president of Guinea, Mr. Alpha Condé. The reasons for our request are explained in this letter. We would like you to take them into consideration, not only for the upcoming conference, but also for the overall assistance and cooperation policy of the United States with our country.
Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon is a non-profit organization with branches in Europe, Africa and Asia. Our organization is committed to fighting human rights violations in Guinea-Conakry. In that respect, we have established a special program, JUSTICE IN GUINEA, dedicated to eradicating chronic impunity that has reduced our country to a shadow of what it should have been, in regard to its potentials.
On the 28th of September 2009, over 200 people were killed and more than 175 women, mainly ethnic Fulani, were raped in broad daylight by agents of the military junta led by Captain Moussa Camara Daddis. Since his accession to power in 2010, Mr. Alpha Condé – to the dismay of all international and local observers – has shown a disturbing complacency with the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity. Many security officials identified in the UN report as responsible for these atrocities hold senior positions in the government. Not only the victims live in total state of abandonment but also they are under pressure and blackmail to drop any legal process. No action has been taken by the government to hear Captain Camara Daddis, the main responsible for the massacre. Military officers such as Claude Pivi and Tiégboro Camara, namely accused by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, have been indicted but remain in the government cabinet.
Our organization is gravely concerned by this deliberate denial of justice. Mr. Alpha Conde’s complacency is simply unacceptable; it has ruined the hopes of setting Guinea on the path of democracy that his accession to power raised. For many observers of Guinea, Mr. Conde is creating conditions similar to those that allowed the genocide in Rwanda by purging the military apparatus as well as the recruiting and training in Angola of a militia composed exclusively of members of his ethnic group. At the same time military officers of other nationalities of the country are being retired in large numbers. This deliberate weakening of the security forces is accompanied by the establishment of a covert parallel militia of rangers and traditional warriors called Donzo. In the administration, Mr. Alpha Condé has established segregationist and divisive policies that have dissolved the remains of social cohesion in the civil service and the security apparatuses[,], which are in principle the conduits of a national identity. Citizens of President Alpha Condé’s tribe enjoy blatant favors at the expense of others civil servants whose career prospects are diminished if they are not simply sacked from the public administration. Guinea’s fragile economy is more than ever on the brinks of collapse with the government subjecting merchants and traders under constant and biased harassment and heavy taxation measures based on ethnic backgrounds.
The invitation made to Mr. Alpha Condé by your administration has the risk of working against the laudable initiative of encouraging and supporting good governance in Africa. Instead, it will be an encouragement to the consolidation is one of the most corrupt dictatorships of contemporary Africa. Isolating African leaders the likes of Mr. Condé would be a clear message of your administration to the African populations, particularly to the many helpless victims living in anonymity. Without a dramatic and unequivocal reaffirmation of the founding principle of justice in good governance, your administration takes the risk of maintaining the perception of a double standard in its African diplomacy. At a time of international outcry over the barbaric acts of Boko Haram against innocent women, it would be inappropriate to remain silent on the fate of hundreds of women who were raped in Guinea, four years ago.
Some international media circles and diplomats want at any costs to give Guinea the label of an “emerging democracy” with a president working for change. Actually, Mr. Alpha Condé is spending considerable sums of money that could be judiciously utilized to help the Guinean populations, in order to forge and maintain this image. A lobby of influential []people in the United States, France and the United Kingdom is at work to hide the misdeeds and crimes of his administration. The assassination in their sleep of local inhabitants of Zogota following a dispute on salary arrears and hiring practices by mining companies, the kidnapping of youth from a market place in Conakry and their transfer under harsh conditions to Soronkoni in Upper-Guinea with the death of a few of them, the multiple assassinations of demonstrators or the detention with tortures of citizens under false accusations of fictitious plots against the government are a few examples of the climate of repression that have led Guinea to a new height of social tension. In conjunction with blatant cases of corruption in the awarding of mining contracts with payments of hundreds of millions of dollars whose destination remains hidden, while the citizens live in dire poverty, there are clear indications of a country sliding into autocracy and dictatorship. The support provided by the lobbyists only reinforces Mr. Alpha Condé choice of the dangerous logic of governing by denial of justice and contempt to the victims of the state violence, by trampling of the electoral process with pre-emptive strikes against certain ethnic groups in anticipation of the presidential elections of 2015. Any other goodwill gesture from the U.S. government in favor of the regime of Mr. Alpha Condé will be used as a blank check by his administration in the pursuit of this policy of division and chaos.
Pottal Fii-Bhantal Fouta Djallon is representative of a vast majority of the voiceless victims in Guinea. On behalf of that majority, we are calling on you to put pressure on Mr. Alpha Condé by suspending all forms of economic assistance to the Government of Guinea until tangible progress is made in the judicial process against all officers charged with crimes against humanity.
Our organization would like that the U.S. government to remind ECOWAS leaders of the moral indecency of allowing one of the main protagonists of the massacres of September 28th 2009, Mr. Daddis Camara, to enjoy a golden exile in Burkina Faso, with the privileges of a former head[of] of State. This laxity discredits ECOWAS and maintains a fertile ground for extremist groups. It projects on the African continent an image that goes against African values of respect for women as well as African aspirations to democracy and development. It institutionalizes impunity with serious threats to the stability of the region of West Africa. We urge you to put pressure on the presidents of the ECOWAS to setup an investigation committee composed of independent lawyers to hear and try the Captain Moussa Daddis Camara and his accomplices in the junta such as General Sekouba Konate.
The pressure of the United States of America on behalf of justice as true foundation of democracy is essential to save Guinea from the bleak prospects of a genocide that would have tragic consequences for the entire region of West Africa.
Our representatives in Washington DC are available to convey any additional information regarding this letter.
Most[insert] Respectfully,

The Central Commission of Pottal Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon
Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta Djallon 3396 Third Avenue 1st Floor BRONX, NY 11456, Tel: 718-879-6697

 

 

 

UFDG’s Diallo Gathers Party Members to Say “We Need a New Strategy — It’s Probably Not Walking (Marching)” [Audio en FR, Article in FR-EN)

Below is an audio of Cellou’s remarks to party members featuring pics from the gathering.  Following this, is a link to the article in French from Guineenews.  After that, you will find the article translated into English via Google.

 

 

COMMENT:  If the opposition doesn’t stay in the streets, it will become virtually invisible.  Hundreds of thousands of people marching is a tangible act.  It sends the message that they reject Conde and his government.  And, even more importantly, it demonstrates that this is the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the population, a truth Conde has been trying to cover up for a long time.

Diallo, by taking “walking” off the table, is getting prepared to announce that the UFDG will seat its delegates in the National Assembly.  Sounds like some of this “new strategy” is already decided and comes straight from Said Djinnit’s playbook.

 

Yes, the opposition needs a new, multi-faceted strategy, but it should be the party’s youth who get the assignment to scope it out.

 

Stay tuned . . . 

 

 

Meeting de l’UFDG : Cellou Dalein Diallo déverse sa colère sur Alpha Condé

Meeting UFDG: Diallo pours his anger on Alpha Condé

This is a Diallo, visibly angry, who harangued his massively mobilized Saturday at its headquarters in the suburb of Conakry Mining militants. In twenty minutes, the leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), has called for unity to stop the dictatorship in Guinea Has there been on site.

After a minute of silence in memory of two victims of the security forces, the former Prime Minister said indiscretions. “We are told that Alpha Condé has spent thirty million dollars for 99 MPs. He wanted 99 members but thanks to your commitment, he had only 53 members, it is his vision. “

Later, the leader of the UFDG pounds. “We mourn, we lost two of our young people killed for no reason by the police. We are, I believe, 53 th or 54 th young shot by police and gendarmes Guinea with the blessing Alpha Condé. I know you’re frustrated, too, just like the men who love peace and justice. Why so much hatred, so many crimes directed against militants UFDG Why, since until now Zakariaou no serious investigation has been opened translate sponsors and perpetrators to court It is simply because Alpha Condé and his government hate us. They do not want us in Guinea. Otherwise, any other country in the world where we have killed as much, and so arbitrary as a policeman or a gendarme at least, would have been brought before the courts to answer for the crimes. But they will never be arrested because they execute instructions and they know that their impunity is guaranteed. What do we do now? There is still time to think about strategies. past three years, we are fighting for the establishment of democracy, the rule of law and justice in Guinea, and the country that back in terms of human rights, democracy and national reconciliation. should find the best strategy. There are times when one must stop and think, work with the mind. True, today we have a heavy heart, but it should not continue, what to do? Take time for reflection, it is perhaps not walking. What should we do? Because we can not condone the killings. innocents.qui Most are not protesting. As young Bailo Barry, who was beside her telecentre, when the ball of forces pierced his heart, he died on the spot. Why so much hatred, violence against UFDG? 54 dead in two years. Since April 2011, many were killed, not in their streets but in their family. It often tells us to stop marches and dead cities, but Will it give up our right? We have always responded to question rather forces. But it is hatred and desire to destroy UFDG, intimidating its activists discouraged. Because it is the largest political force that now stands against the dictatorship in Guinea. They know that if UFDG is defeated, there is more resistance. And they use all means not only death and intimidation, but the division and the intoxication of youth, we must disapprove. Today, we are the bulwark, the only force that resists against the dictatorship in Guinea. They will do everything to divide us because they are afraid of UFDG. UFDG If he was not there, Alpha Conde have finished installing his dictatorship. Today they decided to divide us, create clans, clans Bah Oury, Cellou Dalein clans, clans Sadakkadji. All this is to divide us because we are the only bulwark. must refuse. If Guinea is spared some things today, it is because there is UFDG, youth is standing. Nevertheless, they hate us, they do not like us but we are respected. When we say No, No . So reject the division. Guinea has on us. Without UFDG, no justice, no democracy. Instead, it is the exclusion and hatred. They are afraid of us, we are a rampart. They killed us, imprisoned, intimidated, beaten and abused. Nowadays, they use the weapon of division because if UFDG is united, Alpha Condé will not go far. If you are divided, you fun Alpha Condé. They fear our unity and our determination and our commitment. Please, we must reject the division. We fought for three years. They say that investors are left because we put the children in the streets. Yet there is no power or water, is misery in homes. Guinea’s people are counting on us. We have no right to disappoint, nor demolish this formidable force that constitutes the unit UFDG. They tried everything, done everything, but we remained united. debauched Saliou Bela They killed fifty young, Bah Oury pushed into exile, while this to discourage us, but we resisted. Today, they want to divide us. should not accept the division. This is the unit that prevents UFDG Alpha Condé sleep. If you break if you break this unit, if you accept that introduce corruption, money and the creation of common X or Y to split UFDG, Guinea will fall to the lowest, and there will be no democracy. So we will lead the reflection to see the right strategy. But beforehand, it is the unity of the UFDG. Do not ruin this formidable and admirable unity that the world respects and fears that Alpha Condé. When we say, we do. We had fear anyone. We received tear gas, bullets, batons. We were imprisoned, tried and convicted. What have we not been in Guinea? Do not that outsiders say we were afraid. We have not been afraid but we fought. All this is the weapon of division. We were always together. I always been at the forefront when it comes to events. They came to attack me at home. This is you young Bambeto who have come to the rescue. prevented You hooligans and police returned in the courtyard, while tear gas rained down in my yard. You exposed your lives, you have prevented the police from entering the family. We all suffered together. should not accept being told we are not courageous. continue the fight, trust management UFDG, we will not back down. But each situation requires reflection. must work with the heart, of course, but with the mind too. “

Opposition Meets with Ambassadors from ECOWAS Countries to Discuss Guinea Political Crisis: It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

Opposition press conference, after meeting with ECOWAS ambassadors concerning Guinea’s political crisis, 11-27-13  (photo: ufdgonline.org)

Below is a media account from lejourguinee.com of today’s meeting between the opposition and ambassadors of member countries of ECOWAS concerning Guinea’s political crisis. 

The article was translated into English via Google with editing by Guinea Oye.  Further, the article is supplemented with two paragraphs of information (in parentheses) taken from the UFDG website.

 

 

Bottom line is:

 

-ECOWAS ambassadors asked opposition to seat its delegates in the National Assembly

-Sidya Toure wants to reactivate the July 3, 2013 agreement between the opposition and the government and continue to pursue commitments

-Senegalese ambassador is looking for “a framework for dialogue to bring stability and peace to Guinea.”

-Cellou Dalein Diallo reminds gathering that the source of problem is lack of justice in Guinea and a lack of respect for others on the part of the government.

 

 

 

Sortie de crise en Guinée : les ambassadeurs de la Cedeao pour un cadre de dialogue rassurant !

Category: Politics

Published Wednesday, November 27, 2013 8:03 p.m.

Written by Mamadi Touré

Guinea is a sick man among the countries of the subregion. Its socio-political situations worries diplomats in the region. How to get out of this impasse in Guinea which has lasted (almost) five years? This is in response to a question posed when ECOWAS diplomats met this Wednesday, November 27, with key players including the opposition and the Conde administration.

The meeting took place at the seat of the first political party of the opposition (UFDG) located in Miniere.  ECOWAS ambassadors from (Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Angola, led by Mr Alkhaly Fode Soumah, Ambassador of Sierra Leone and dean of the diplomatic corps. Soumah thanked Dean Jean Marie Doré for open collaboration that facilitated this meeting.)  

 

The focus of the meeting was to try to defuse socio-political situation and try to convince the opposition to sit in the National Assembly.  Recall that the opposition parties rejected the results announced by the CENI and renewed by the Supreme Court elections that declared itself incompetent to decide electoral disputes. It was on November 15.

After several hours off camera, the Ambassador of Senegal in Guinea, designated by his peers as spokesman justified the reasons for  holding the meeting. “Our meeting today, is being held at the headquarters of opposition leaders so that we can find a framework for dialogue and to help bring stability, peace, and appeasement to Guinea,”said  HE Mr. Leopold Diouf.

According to Senegalese diplomat, ambassadors of ECOWAS “could not remain indifferent to what is happening in Guinea.” Asked about conclusions from the meeting, Diouf remained very cautious believing that positive results are expected.

Known for his criticism of the government, the president of the UFR told the press that the meeting with West African diplomats was “a close encounter … Countries around Guinea and who are friends to Guinea felt it was good that they had an exchange with the political class, not only with the opposition but with the ruling party on issues of concern, how to ensure that elections bring a more acceptable result and to consider how the future will unfold. “

Sidya Touré denounced the “denial of justice which [the opposition] was the object of at the Supreme Court.” Continuing, he said that his clan is “concerned for the future” of Guinea. The former Prime Minister also stressed the need to reactivate the agreements of July 3, 2013 obtained under the auspices of the international community.

 

(Diallo, President of the UFDG and leader of the Republican opposition thanked the collective of African ambassadors for the particular importance they attach to the Guinean situation.  It will reassure the opposition,which is more committed than anyone to peace and democracy, we are also very happy to discuss with brothers and sisters who can understand our problems and propose appropriate solutions.  But we must recognize that Guinea is unjust and disrespects the rights of others which are the sources of conflict.)

Regarding the issue of the National Assembly as to whether or not the opposition will seat delegates, spokesman of the opposition at the meeting, says, “there will be no decision at opposition as we did not get a majority, but a consensus will be needed for the opposition to determine the position.”

Note that this meeting, between the Guinean opposition and the Ambassadors of ECOWAS and friends of Guinea after a dead city day, the opposition mentioned the two dead and twenty wounded.

Mamadi Touré

 

Guinea: In Communique, Opposition Reiterates What It Reiterated Before –Including Ville Morte Monday and No Decision on Seats in the Assembly

Below is the latest communique from the opposition.  If you wish to read the French version, click on the link below.

sam, 23 nov 2013, 14:49 

Journée ville morte à Conakry : l’opposition guinéenne formalise sept décisions.

Translated into English via Google.

Ghost town in Conakry day: the Guinean opposition formalized seven decisions.

Political members of the Republican opposition parties came together to harmonize their positions on issues relating to legislation on 28 September 2013. They took the opportunity to issue a statement on seven points, Has said Saturday in a statement.

 

1 – Opposition condemns become recurrent abuses suffered by unarmed demonstrators by the security forces who enjoy total impunity in their missions repression. During these brutal actions, they do not hesitate to use weapons of war to provide services for maintaining order with as corollary of heavy balance sheets resulting in many deaths and gunshot wounds. Opposition deplores their latest crackdown has resulted in the death of a young citizen 15 years hit by a bullet during a protest in Cosa, in the commune of Ratoma and injuries to a dozen other young people from the same neighborhood;

2 – opposition deplores the violence against journalists are regularly in the exercise of their noble profession. It condemns molestage a journalist by members of the Presidential Guard, during an official ceremony and the attempted abduction by strangers of the director of a private radio;

3 – The opposition confirms its determination to enter supranational courts in order to assert these rights, under the resolution of electoral disputes arising recent elections;

4 – The opposition decided to inform the Secretary General of the United Nations a complete dossier highlighting fraud, serious shortcomings and gaps that have affected the election, thus removing him credibility and transparency expected;

5 – The Republican opposition acknowledges the dissolution of the Committee monitoring the implementation of the inter-Guinean political agreement of 3 July 2013 and regrets the lack of a framework for dialogue between the government and the opposition. So she wants to create a new framework for dialogue between the presidential camp and the Government on the one hand and the opposition, on the other hand, with the participation of representatives of the international community. Such a structure could, among other tasks, to follow up the implementation of the provisions of the agreement of July 3 last not yet executed;

6 – Opposition challenges to the next plenary debate on the question of its future participation in the National Assembly, the process of internal consultation initiated by some political parties are not at an end. An extension has been granted for that consensus is achieved within each political party before a meeting of the Republican opposition to define a common position regarding its participation or boycott the future parliament. The Republican opposition reiterates its determination to preserve its unity and cohesion usual to make the ultimate decision adopted in the coming days, a common position shared by all member parties;

7 – To protest against the resignation of the Supreme Court, which is self-challenged publicly expressing his incompetence to deal with appeals by political parties in the electoral disputes, Republican opposition decides to make Monday, November 25 2013 , a ghost town in the five communes of Conakry day. She called the people of the capital to refrain from any activity that day to protest against the serious institutional crisis created by the resignation of the Supreme Court and its refusal to resolve electoral disputes as there oblige the Constitution and the Code election;

The Republican opposition invites its members and supporters to respond massively to its slogan of dead city for the day of November 25 next while remaining mobilized to defend the democratic gains of the People of Guinea.

Opposition Statement Provides More Details on Letter to Ban ki-moon, Monitoring Mission, Upcoming Elections,”Dead City” Day, and Whether to Seat Delegates at the National Assembly

Aboubacar Sylla, spokesperson of the opposition, read a statement this afternoon which provides more information on topics announced earlier in the day.  This is an excerpt.  If you wish to read this in French, please click on the link below.  Further below is the English version via Google and a bit of editing by Guinea Oye.

 

From: guineenews.org 

 

Le porte parole de l’opposition : « Notre position commune va attendre encore, certains partis ne sont pas prêts »

 

 

The Spokesperson of the Opposition: “ Our common position is to wait, some parties are not ready”

 

 

With respect to elections of September 28 we decided to enter the United Nations, inform the Secretary General of the United Nations in a letter which we reaffirm our refusal to accept the rigged elections, we reaffirm all fraud, all the imperfections, we remember everything that these elections have provided for us a real sham election and we attach to this letter provided sufficient documentation to attest to the truth of our accusations. This letter will also be sent to the African Union, ECOWAS and the European Union.

We also decided to send a letter to the authorities to take note of the end of the mission of the Monitoring Committee of the Agreement of 3 July 2013. We noted in effect that the cessation of its activities comes at a time when many provisions under the Agreement of 3 July have not been executed.

We want a permanent framework for dialogue to be established under the auspices of the international community to continue to place the provisions of the Agreement of July 3, including issues related to municipal and community elections to be held in principle before the end of the first quarter of 2014 and the presidential election in 2015 through change of technical operator, the recruitment of a new operator on the basis of international competition.

There are also many as you know obligations were subject to the authorities but not yet implemented, it is the neutrality of public administration, access to state media public service all currents of thought and opinion, compensation of those who were victims of the events that we have experienced in recent months in Guinea.

We also decided to organize a day ghost town next Monday, November 25. We therefore call on all people of Conakry to observe this day a day ghost town to protest against the resignation of the Supreme Court and the fact that this institution declares itself incompetent to judge electoral disputes, making our country the only country in the world where no recourse to electoral disputes can  be examined. 

 

We proposed to define our position with respect to our participation or not in the national assembly. As you know we had asked to see our respective bases for all political parties on the basis of consensus to consult with their different structures and arrive at a consensus decision. It is at the present day the work is not yet complete, it is a process of bringing ideas that sometimes takes time and some political parties have said they are not yet ready and cannot state their position on this important issue. So we postponed to the next day the decision on the participation or not of the Republican opposition to the next National Assembly. 

 

Vincent Foucher, Int’l. Crisis Group, Punts His Way Through RFI Interview about Guinea Election

These people, and many more, had their votes stolen in 2010, and now again, in 2013

Relief that the election is over seems to have surpassed both truth and an honest assessment of what is going on in Guinea.  Short and sweet, Conde, the CENI and the RPG collaborated with a few international representatives to steal Guinea’s second election in three years.  The international folks in Conakry are staring at the floor praying that no one will ask how the election, dripping in fraud, went.  It’s as though Don Corleone paid each a visit in the middle of the night to remind them about the “code of silence.”  Well, the election was a mess, everyone knows it and the silence is deafening.  

 

Word is coming from many corners of the country, that Conde received no more than 8-9% of the vote on September 28.  You do the math.  That’s a mountain of fraud and a sea full of people who sooner or later will be in the streets.  This will de-stabilize Guinea, as it should.

 

Foucher is a smart cookie and has remained engaged in Guinea for a long time.  Unfortunately, in the RFI interview, he played dumb, hemmed and hawed, ultimately succeeding in his determination not to say anything definitive. 

 

But Guinea Oye has a treat for everyone.  Rather than posting his interview today with RFI, we are posting the executive summary of a report entitled, “Guinea:  A Way Out of the Election Quagmire,” which Foucher wrote and the ICG issued in February 2013.  At the end of the summary you will find recommendations for just about every actor in the “election quagmire” except the opposition.  This may not be the most comprehensive list of recommendations, but it raises issues guaranteed to scare the beejeebers out of the international community and to make Conde snarl.  Now, this Foucher piece is worth a read.

Alpha Conde and His Judges

Guinea: A Way Out of the Election Quagmire

Africa Report N°199 18 Feb 2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Two years after President Alpha Condé’s victory in the first really competitive election in the history of postcolonial Guinea, the country still does not have a national assembly. Forthcoming legislative elections look set to be complicated: ethnic tensions, compounded by the 2010 polls, remain high and the electoral system is deeply controversial. The establishment of a new Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in September 2012 was an important step, but progress stalled again in December on the issue of the voter register. President Condé must engage in a genuine dialogue with the opposition and the INEC must reach a consensual solution on the register. With international support, the government and opposition must consolidate the electoral system. Peaceful and credible legislative elections are essential to establish a parliament that reflects the country’s diversity, give the opposition a real voice, restore checks and balances, and prevent the hope raised by the replacement of illegitimate military leaders with an elected civilian president turning into disillusionment.

Direct dialogue between the government and opposition on the legislative elections started more than a year after Alpha Condé came to power, with the Inclusive Framework for Political Dialogue (Cadre de dialogue politique inclusif, CDPI). It ended two months later with limited results. Between March 2012 and February 2013, there were no further direct talks, but instead a series of interventions, facilitations, consultations and announcements. Some questions have been settled and others brushed aside, but the opposition still strongly disagrees on two key issues: the INEC and the voter register. Soon after a banned opposition protest on 27 August 2012, which led to widespread disorder in the capital Conakry, the government pledged to reconstitute the INEC, and the commission’s controversial president asked that his mandate not be renewed. His successor, Bakary Fofana, presented in December a timetable setting the elections for 12 May 2013. Does this signal a way forward? Did this peculiar form of dialogue, with accusations, manoeuvres and anger, eventually yield progress?

Although there has been some headway, the level of polarisation remains high. The appointment of the new INEC members created fresh friction, with its new president rapidly coming under fire, and it is this contentious institution that must resolve the key problem of the electoral register. Tension on that issue boiled over on 10 December, when the opposition accused Fofana of violating the procedures of INEC by refusing to release a report on the register prepared by the International Organisation of Francophonie (Organisation internationale de la francophonie, OIF), and considered calling for his resignation. Fofana’s announcement, the following day, that elections would be held in May 2013 raised the temperature further: the opposition rejected that date, arguing that the INEC plenary had not been consulted.

The opposition also protested against the technical weaknesses and lack of transparency in the process of revising the electoral register, as well as the lack of preparation for the Guinean diaspora’s vote. On 29 January, the opposition, allied with a number of “centrist” parties, called for new demonstrations and dismissed the direct dialogue called for by the authorities as a ploy to have them cancel the protest. During a new INEC meeting to discuss the electoral register on 11 February, the majority supporting President Condé voted to endorse the controversial revision while opposition commissioners walked out. They might decide to suspend permanently their participation.

In sum, the situation remains worrisome. Holding elections while the government and opposition disagree on fundamental issues is dangerous. The government shows contempt for the opposition and took almost a year to engage in dialogue. The opposition maintains that President Condé was elected through fraud and prefers to avoid elections (or, at least, does not want transparent and consensual polls). It accuses the regime of ethnic favouritism. Civil society, which played a key role at the end of the 2000s, is now divided along political and ethnic lines. Controversial elections against the backdrop of ethnic disputes raise many risks at both local and national levels.

Electoral turmoil could degenerate into significant violence. Security sector reform has made limited progress and tension remains very high between the security forces, accustomed to impunity and also affected by ethnic disputes, and the population, exasperated by police and army brutality. Electoral troubles could offer opportunities to those in the armed forces who have not fully accepted their new submission to civilian authority.

The Condé regime cannot simply talk about its good governance and development ambitions: it must also iron out political tensions. Moreover, it is more important that the vote is credible than that it takes place in May – although with so much time already lost it should take place as soon as possible and certainly before December 2013. For this to happen, dialogue is vital. The road to the elections will be rocky, but it is crucial to keep friction to a minimum, maintain serious dialogue between the parties and rebuild trust in the electoral apparatus. It is also necessary to strengthen the capacity of the political system – the judiciary, territorial administration, security forces, INEC, political parties – and for civil society to manage in a proper and credible manner the conflicts that will inevitably emerge during the long electoral journey ahead.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To break the election logjam and guarantee a credible vote

To the president of the republic:

1.  Set up regular meetings with the leaders of the main parties and the boards of the National Transition Council (Conseil national de transition, CNT) and INEC to discuss the political situation and establish shared understanding of the electoral system issue.

To the president of INEC:

2.  Provide all INEC commissioners with all the documents relating to the organisation of the elections and clarify the procedures for the revision of the electoral register.

3.  Reopen discussions on the electoral register in the INEC plenary without excluding any solution; on this issue and on others, the electoral commission must make credible decisions, which require operating on the basis of consensus rather than on a majority vote.

4.  Take the necessary steps to allow Guineans living in the diaspora to exercise their right to vote.

To the government of Guinea:

5.  Increase and publicise the repression of crimes and offences committed by members of the defence and security forces, whether in the execution of their duties or not.

6.  Consider, in consultation with human rights organisations, the creation of an observatory of impunity.

7.  Clarify publicly its position on, and its relations with, the different organisations of “donzo” traditional hunters, whose presence in urban areas is creating mistrust.

To the Guinean Social Movement:

8.  Prepare for the deployment of a national electoral observation mechanism inspired from the one implemented during the 2012 presidential election in Senegal.

To the international partners of Guinea:

9.  Mobilise and support international and non-governmental organisations involved in the electoral process to reinforce the credibility of the polls, including by:

a) supporting the Guinean Social Movement in the establishment of an electoral observation mechanism.

b) preparing local representatives of the different parties within INEC and its sub-structures, as well as magistrates, to the management of disputes that will no doubt emerge in the course of the electoral process.

Dakar/Brussels, 18 February 2013

Guinea Update: Opposition to Take Election Case to ECOWAS Justice Court and The Right to Resist a Repressive Regime

Donzos Celebrate after Attacking Opposition Supporters in a Permitted March  (Seriously, No Kidding)

Next Steps for Opposition

 

As expected, the Guinean opposition is checking closely with its base before deciding on the course to follow after announcement of the “results” by the Supreme Court on Friday evening, Nov. 17.  It looks like they will announce their future plans sometime on Tuesday.

 

The opposition points out firmly that the manner in which the Court didn’t deal election complaints filed concerning fraud or irregularities is unprecedented.  The Court essentially said that it was not “competent” to rule on the complaints because they do not consider such complaints to be under their purview!  With the Supreme Court punting on this issue, the people have no legal recourse in Guinea for dealing with serious election disputes.

 

This is quite a different outcome than in the 2010 presidential election when the Court disqualified votes from five constituencies.  If the Court was competent in 2010, why is it not competent to address disputes in 2013.  Of course there is practical reason for this — it’s Pandora’s box.  If you open the box to deal with even one dispute you are opening yourself to dealing with many more. 

 

 As a result, the opposition intends to seek redress from the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Court of Justice to request a total or partial elimination of the legislative election results. 

 

 

The Right to Resist a Repressive Regime

 

Various Guinean websites are reporting that opposition youth are gathered at the axis of Hamdallaye-Bambeto-Cosa, in Conakry.  Both yesterday and today they put up barricades and burned tires along the entrances into their neighborhoods. Today, word spread through the area that an independent journalist was kidnapped by security forces which brought even more people to the streets.

 

What is not being said is that the opposition protesters are not out on the streets by themselves.  As Conde has done all along, he sends into the opposition neighborhoods a full array of police, gendarmes, Malinke militias, FOSSPEL, and Donzos as provocateurs against opposition youth.  Conde also uses foreign mercenaries from Sierra Leone and Liberia (where those who committed much of the 2009 massacre originated), whom you can expect to be on the scene soon, if not already. 

 

An important clarification is required here.  Opposition protests are often described as “violent protests,” or protests which have “turned violent.”  What this leaves out is that these protests have been consistently peaceful.  If violence does occur, it is at the hands of state-sponsored forces and it is not used to curb crime, but to provoke.  After three years of state attacks on peaceful marchers and repeated encroachments into their neighborhoods without cause, in which people were killed, women were raped and homes and businesses were burned, it is only in the last six months that opposition supporters have begun to defend themselves, which is their right. 

A right, no doubt, they will have to exercise as Conde’s next wave of repression sweeps the country to silence the overwhelming majority of Guinean voters who did not vote for him.  

 

 

ECOWAS: Amb. to Dakar Can’t Find Guineans to Give Conde a “Warm Welcome,” Instead Guineans Show Up to Protest – 11 Arrested (EN-FR)

In addition to the protest, the police arrested and detained the Federal Secretary of the UFDG in Dakar, Elhaj. Sidy Boubacar Bah, who spent three hours at the police station. When Guinea’s Ambassador Keita realized he could not get a warm, substantial crowd at the airport in Dakar to greet Conde and that the opposition was going through with its plans to protest, he sought some “assistance” from Senegalese cops to detain opposition supporters. But, unlike Guinea, it is a new day with Macky Sall as president, and it would not be out of the question for him to ensure that the Guinean ambassador doesn’t use his cops again as his own private henchmen.

11 Guinean arrested upon arrival in Dakar Alpha Condé (exclusive) – translated into English via Google

Posted on October 25, 2013

Heads of State and Government in the Senegalese capital in the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS. The arrival of President Alpha Condé in Dakar recorded incidents. Young Guinean much students, placards in hand, demonstrated against the Head of State.

An angry protesters reached by phone, said that this event is to protest against election fraud that took place during the election on September 28. According to witnesses, protesters chanted slogans against the regime of President Condé, accused of creating a “new dictatorship” in Guinea. About 11 young people were arrested and taken to the police station from Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport. The protesters accused Ambassador Bo Keita for having these arrests. At last some were later released against others continue their stay at the police station.

Alpha Oumar Diallo Aminata.com
alpha.oumar @ aminata.com
+224 666 62 25 24

11 guinéens arrêtés lors de l’arrivée de Alpha Condé à Dakar (exclusif) 

 

Posted on October 25, 2013

Des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement sont dans la capitale sénégalaise dans le cadre du sommet extraordinaire de la CEDEAO.  L’arrivée du Président Alpha Condé à Dakar a enregistré des incidents. Des jeunes guinéens une grande partie des étudiants, pancartes en main, ont manifesté contre le Chef de l’Etat.

Un des manifestants en colère joint par téléphone, indique que cette sortie vise à protester contre les fraudes électorales qui se sont déroulées lors du scrutin du 28 septembre dernier. Selon des témoins, les manifestants scandaient de slogans hostiles au régime du Président Condé, accusé d’instaurer une “nouvelle dictature” en Guinée. Environ 11 jeunes ont été arrêtés et conduits à la gendarmerie de l’aéroport international Léopold Sédar Senghor. Les manifestants accusent l’ambassadeur Bo Keita d’avoir organisé ces arrestations. Aux dernières nouvelles certains ont été libérés par contre d’autres continuent leur séjour à la gendarmerie.

Alpha Oumar Diallo pour Aminata.com
alpha.oumar@aminata.com

Declaration: The Republican Opposition Launches a Call to the International Community to Ensure that Fraud Identified Will Be Factored into Election Results (FR-EN)

Déclaration : l’Opposition Républicaine lance un appel à la communauté internationale pour que les fraudes constatées soient reconnues et les élections reprises

Créé le mardi 8 octobre 2013 18:57

Des Leaders de l’Opposition en Guinée. Cellou Dalein Diallo en focus, en haut, á droite.L’Opposition Républicaine dans sa déclaration du 04 octobre 2013, dénonçait la fraude massive organisée avant, pendant et après le vote par le pouvoir et la CENI, afin d’attribuer à la mouvance présidentielle, une majorité parlementaire factice.

Cette fraude massive s’est traduite par :

• des bourrages massifs d’urnes ;
• des falsifications, disparitions et substitutions de Procès Verbaux de dépouillement (principalement en Haute Guinée et en Guinée Forestière) ;
• des omissions importantes d’électeurs (surtout à Fria, Télimélé et Moyenne Guinée) ;
• des rétentions de cartes électorales et leur réutilisation illégale ;
• des distributions sélectives de cartes d’électeur ;
• l’expulsion des délégués de l’UFDG, du RDIG, de l’UFR et du PEDN des bureaux de vote à GUECKEDOU et à KISSIDOUGOU par les responsables des CEPI et CESPI ;
• un manque de kits et d’urnes dans de nombreux bureaux de vote empêchant ainsi plus de 12.000 électeurs de voter ;
• des immixtions de membres du Gouvernement dans le processus (surtout en Basse guinée, Haute guinée et Guinée Forestière) ;
• la dissimulation de fiches de dépouillement  empêchant ainsi les CACV de comparer les chiffres portés sur les procès-verbaux falsifiés ;
• des créations de bureaux de vote fictifs ;
• des votes par récépissés, uniquement en Haute Guinée et Guinée forestière ;
• etc.

Ces nombreux manquements tendent à attribuer une majorité indue au RPG Arc-en-ciel, en contradiction flagrante avec les résultats des suffrages exprimés en faveur de l’opposition guinéenne. L’essentiel des anomalies dénoncées par l’Opposition a été relevé par des observateurs présents sur l’ensemble du territoire, notamment ceux de l’Union Européenne.

Cependant, l’Opposition regrette que les garanties données par la communauté internationale, pour le déroulement transparent des élections législatives, ne se soient pas traduites dans les faits. L’affichage entre autres, des listes définitives, corrigeant toutes les anomalies, et normalement prévue par le chronogramme de la CENI, n’a pas été assuré.

Au vu des résultats publiés par la CENI à ce jour, malgré les fraudes, Le RPG Arc-en-Ciel n’obtient pas la majorité absolue à Conakry, en Basse Guinée et en Moyenne Guinée. Ainsi la majorité qu’il veut s’attribuer à l’Assemblée Nationale, se construit surtout par des fraudes systématiques organisées en Haute Guinée et en Guinée Forestière.

C’est pourquoi, l’Opposition Républicaine réaffirme son exigence d’annulation pure et simple de ces élections pour leur caractère éminemment frauduleux. D’ores et déjà, l’opposition suspend sa participation aux Comités de suivi et de veille des accords du 3 juillet ainsi qu’à la Commission de centralisation des résultats à la CENI.

Les Partis de l’Opposition Républicaine lancent un appel à la communauté internationale, garante de l’application de l’accord politique inter guinéen, afin qu’elle use de toute son influence pour que les fraudes constatées soient reconnues et les élections reprises en conséquence.

Les partis politiques de l’Opposition Républicaine invitent leurs militants et sympathisants à rester mobilisés et à l’écoute des prochaines décisions.

Conakry le 08 octobre 2013.

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L’Opposition Républicaine.

 

 

The article was translated into English via Google.  No editing, so a bit rough.

Created Tuesday, October 8, 2013 6:57 p.m.

Republican opposition in his statement of 4 October 2013, denounced the massive fraud organized before, during and after the voting power and INEC, to assign to the movement presidential, parliamentary majority dummy.

This massive fraud has resulted in:

• massive ballot box stuffing;
• falsifications, disappearances and substitutions of the Minutes of counting (mainly in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea);
• significant omissions of voters (especially Fria Télimélé and Middle Guinea);
• retentions voting cards and illegal reuse;
• selective distribution of voter cards;
• the expulsion of delegates UFDG of RDIG, the UFR and SARP polls in Guéckédou and KISSIDOUGOU by the heads of CEPI and CESPI;
• a lack of kits and urns in many polling stations and preventing more than 12,000 people to vote;
• the interference of government officials in the process (especially in Lower Guinea, Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea);
• concealment of counting cards and preventing CACV compare the figures reported in the minutes falsified;
• creations offices fictitious vote;
• voting receipts, only in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea;
• etc..

These many failures tend to attribute undue majority RPG Arc-en-ciel, in flagrant contradiction with the results of the votes cast in favor of the Guinean opposition. Most of the anomalies reported by the Opposition was noted by observers across the country, including those of the European Union.

However, the Opposition regrets that the guarantees given by the international community for the transparent parliamentary elections, did not be translated into action. The display among others, the final lists, correcting any anomalies, and normally provided by the timing of the INEC, was not insured.

Given published by the CENI results to date, despite the fraud, the RPG Arc-en-Ciel does not get an absolute majority in Conakry, Guinea and Lower Middle Guinea. Thus the majority he wants to assign to the National Assembly, is built mainly by systematic fraud organized in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea.

That is why the opposition Republican reaffirms its outright cancellation of the election requirement for their highly fraudulent. Already, opposition suspends participation in monitoring committees and standby agreements of July 3 and the Commission of centralization results in the INEC.

The parties of the opposition Republican launched a call to the international community, guaranteeing the implementation of the political agreement inter Guinea, so it uses its influence to ensure that frauds are recognized and included in the election result .

The political parties of the opposition Republican invite their members and supporters to remain mobilized and listening to future decisions.

Conakry on 08 October 2013.

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The Republican Opposition.