GUINEA: Opposition Says “No” to Gov’t. Dialogue Meeting and “Yes” to March on Thursday, May 2

OPPOSITION PROTESTER TELLS IT LIKE IT IS DURING MARCH PROTEST OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION IN BRUSELS

Article from guineenews.org , translated via Google into English, editing by Guinea Oye

The Opposition is not joining the Prime Minister for the dialogue meeting: “We will send a letter,” says Lansana Kouyate

posted on April 28, 2013 at 6:22 p.m.

The standoff between the government and the opposition continues to harden. Mistrust and suspicion in the political pond in our country are exacerbated by the publication of a presidential decree, on Saturday, April 13, 2013, calling the electorate to the polls on June 30. Since then, in both statements and speeches, disagreements between the two movements are growing. The international facilitator [Said Djinnit] appointed by the Secretary General of the UN on the eve of the publication of this decree has, for the moment, got a non-violence agreement among parties that has “lived” since the time of his signature. The march of April 25 was more dramatic than the previous (April 18), leaving one dead and several wounded, some by live ammunition, observers reported.

Another initiative of the international facilitator, after his round of visits with stakeholders, is the revival of the political dialogue. The Prime Minister sent a letter to the opposition at the beginning of the weekend requesting a resumption of talks on Monday, April 29 with the Prime Minister. The opposition takes exception to the Government’s refusal to rescind the decree setting the date of elections for June 30 which obstructed dialogue and release of opposition marchers arrested who were exercising their right to protest. The main opposition leaders decided on Sunday to refuse to participate in a dialogue with the government until these preconditions are met. According to the procedure, opposition leaders will dispatch a letter to the Prime Minister. “We will send our spokesperson [Aboubacar Sylla] to respond to the letter from the Prime Minister,” said the president of the SARP, Elhadj Lansana Kouyate, who was reached by phone overnight on Sunday.
Concerning our question about the purpose of the spokesman of the opposition attending the meeting with the Prime Minister — will he represent the opposition or only to file the pposition’s reply letter, Lansana Kouyaté said: “We send our spokesperson to deliver to the Prime Minister our response letter notifying him that we will not participate in dialogue as the conditions obstructing our participation have not been removed. ”

These conditions, according to the opposition, are the decree calling the electorate to the polls on June 30 and the release of opposition activists. 

Furthermore, we learn that the opposition will not participate in current electoral actions and will not file any application for candidates in the June 30 election, being certain that it will succeed in preventing the holding of parliamentary elections under current conditions. Another week of uncertainty begins!

The opposition is involved in preparations for the net march which will be on Thursday, May 2, along the Fidel Castro Highway, we learn.

Nouhou Balde
Conakry, Guinea
224.669.13.13.13

Palace Kumbayah: Guinea Gov’t. and Facilitators

Oh, my.  Said Djinnit arrives in Guinea on Monday and by Wednesday, he has Alpha Conde reading a statement saying stuff that good heads of state might say.  In the two pics below, they all look like they are going to the gallows, especially Conde.  

Stay tuned . . .

p. s., the title of aminata.com article may be a bit optimistic, Conde said he would contact the Justice Minister to see about their release.

Conde decides to release political prisoners!

Posted on April 24, 2013

photo: aminata.com

photo:  guineenews.org

During an audience granted to the facilitator in the Guinean crisis, the Head of State reaffirmed its commitment to hold free elections, transparent and credible.

Before Djinnit, the facilitator designated by the United Nations, Alpha Condé has invited all political actors to turn back to the table to discuss in order to find solutions to disputes between them. The President of the Republic, in his statement, stated his intention to release political prisoners.

“In a spirit of respect and calm, I will give instructions to the minister of Justice to investigate the case of persons arrested for their release,” said the Head of State.

“For me, in my capacity as head of state, guarantor of institutions, I will ensure that everything is implemented with the support of international partners to ensure the transparency and reliability of the electoral process. In this regard, I reiterate that all support measures that are deemed necessary to ensure the security of the process will be implemented, “he adds. “I hope that these elections take place in a peaceful environment, and I invite all stakeholders to join the dialogue table under the aegis of the Prime Minister with the help of facilitators, representing the opposition, the movement and the United Nations United “has it engaged. He ended his speech by thanking Djinnit and “our brothers facilitators” for their availability.

In response, the international facilitator, Djinnit has welcomed the signing by the government and political parties of the opposition and the presidential party, the declaration on non-violence. “We also welcome the declaration just made ​​by the President of the Republic, Head of State, in which he takes important commitments related to the electoral process, which is likely, we sincerely hope to create a atmosphere more conducive to cooperation and dialogue, “he says.

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

Guinea Update 3-31: UN Victim of Gov’t. “Bait and Switch” re: Facilitator, Diallo Meets with Conde, Rumored Kouyate Meeting with Conde, Opposition Will Accompany Telliano to Court, and March Date Changed to April 8

UN Endorses Govt.’s Pick for International Facilitator

If you want a good example of how treacherous Conde’s government can be, here is a classic case.

During the government-opposition talks about a framework for the political dialogue, the topic of facilitators was debated. In the end both groups agreed to the following: the government and the opposition would have one facilitator each and the government would ask the UN or ECOWAS to name an international facilitator. Since then, the opposition did as it was supposed to by naming a facilitator. The government named TWO facilitators, one primary facilitator and one co-facilitator. In addition, the government floated publicly the name of General Lamine Cisse, of Senegal, for international facilitator. Cisse is in Guinea under UN auspices working on reform of the Guinean army. The government never discussed with the opposition the merits of having Gen. Cisse serve as the international facilitator.`The opposition reminded the government that they had agreed that the choice of an individual to be the international facilitator was the UN’s decision to make.

Yesterday, a letter from Said Djinnit, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in West Africa, to Guinean PM Fofana arrived saying:

“I have taken note that all parties have agreed on the appointment of General Lamine Cissé as a member of the team facilitator as the international community. Given the agreement of all parties, I am pleased to inform you that the United Nations to accept Mr. Lamine Cissé, currently practicing as a consultant to the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP), available to the dialogue process Guinean international facilitator. ”

“. . . all parties have agreed . . .” ?  Say what?  Fofana wrote the UN, as he was supposed t do,but rather than asking for the UN to make a selection, Fofana told Djinnit that all parties were on board concerning Cisse.  Of course, this is a bald-faced lie, but now that Djinnit has committed himself on paper, it’s a fait accompli. This is yet another reason to run as far as possible from the government dialogue and its swindlers.

The irony here is that Said Djinnit is a very sharp cookie, especially when it comes to Guinea. Throughout the 2010 presidential campaign and election, he had more insight into the election fraud as well as attacks on ethnic Peuls than any other diplomat. In fact, Said Djinnit would have been a very good international facilitator. Because of Djinnit’s savvy,I t is surprising he didn’t contact opposition leaders to confirm their agreement with the choice of Gen. Cisse.

Cellou Diallo – Alpha Conde Meeting

Guinean websites are reporting that there was a meeting last week between Cellou Diallo and Alpha Conde along the sidelines of a summit conference in Nouakchott, Mauritainia. It was Senegalese president, Macky Sall, who brought the two together. Diallo said he agreed to the meeting because, at that time, the opposition was still engaged in talks with the government regarding the dialogue. Diallo said he reiterated his primary demands that the Waymark contract be tossed out and replaced with one that can guarantee transparency and that Guineans abroad should be able to vote in legislative elections. Conde reaffirmed his disagreement with both of these. One can only assume this was a very short meeting (aminata.com).

Lansana Kouyate Meeting with Alpha Conde?

Reports are flying around Conakry that opposition leader, Lansana Kouyate, met with Alpha Conde earlier today. Kouyate and Conde have known each other for years. During the 2010 presidential election campaign, Kouyate broke ranks from Conde. Since then, they have been estranged. We will have to wait to see the true significance of the meeting.

Opposition to support Telliano at court appearance next week

At a press conference this past Friday, the opposition announced that opposition leaders and their supporters will accompany Jean Marc Telliano to a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, April 2. If you recall, Telliano is charged with slander because of remarks he made about Alpha Conde at a rally during the February 27 march.

Many believe that the judges will postpone Telliano’s appearance on Tuesday in order to avoid a massive opposition presence outside the courthouse.

Opposition March Will Be Held on April 8

The march originally scheduled for April 4 has been changed to April 8. According to the opposition, this will be the first of a series of events it has planned over the coming weeks.

Guinea Opposition Demo, April 4: No More Negotiations, No More Appeals, Time to Present Conde’s Gov’t. for What It is — a Rogue State

NUMBERS LIKE THESE  ARE IRREFUTABLE

The opposition announced yesterday that it will hold a march on April 4 and another march the following week.

The Guinean opposition extracted itself successfully from the viper’s nest, otherwise known as “the dialogue.” Now, it must return to the street because there is nowhere else to go and, in spite of those who think otherwise, the street is where the opposition must be and stay. With the opposition’s ability to present hundreds of thousands of people in the streets in Conakry, it delivers the most compelling message of all — Alpha Conde does not have the support of the majority of Guineans and never has.

Sitting at the presidential palace in dialogue meetings between good cop, Prime Minister Said Fofana ; bad cop, Ousmane Bah; and super bad cop, Alhassane Conde, the opposition knew all along it would have to walk out. Now that it has, its rhetoric and strategy must change. No more negotiations and no more appeals for the government to comply with national law and the constitution. It must declare Conde’s government a rogue regime and Guinea a rogue state. And, the opposition must bring those countries which support Conde into his circle of culpability and apply pressure to them.

More on this later . . .