Guinea’s President Alpha Condé has won 59.49 per cent of votes in a hotly contested election where he sought a controversial third term/Photo: Alpha Condé/Facebook

Guinea’s President Alpha Condé wins controversial third term

Guinea’s President Alpha Condé has won 59.49 per cent of votes in a hotly contested election where he sought a controversial third term, according to provisional results announced by the country’s electoral authority on Saturday.

His main rival, opposition politician Cellou Dalein Diallo, who has rejected the result, alleging large-scale fraud, received 33.5 per cent of the vote, according to the electoral authority. Diallo had claimed victory before the publication of the results.
“We are still going to refer the matter to the constitutional court, without having too many expectations,” Mr Diallo told AFP. The government insists that the electoral process is fair.

At least 30 people have died since the election on Sunday 18 October, Guinean media reports claim.

Much of the controversy in Guinea centres on a third term for the 82-year-old Condé. In March, the president pushed through a new constitution in a referendum which he argued would modernise the country. But it also allowed him to bypass a two-term limit for presidents. However, his opponents say he is breaking the law by holding on to power.

There had been protests against the plan to amend the constitution since October 2019, with demonstrators clashing with the police. Many people are believed people have been killed because of the protests.

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Condé was a veteran opposition leader who finally won elections in 2010, marking the first genuinely democratic handover in Guinea since independence. Condé, who was re-elected in 2015, is largely backed by voters from his Malinké ethnic group, as well as the country’s third major ethnic group, the Soussous.

Diallo, a former prime minister who lost to Condé in both 2010 and 2015 elections, is a member of the Peul (Fulani) community. Although they are Guinea’s largest ethnic group, the country has never had a Peul president.

Adira Kallo

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