Col Mamady Doumbouya, the Head of Guinea’s Military Government has announced that the country will return to civilian rule after a 39-month transition period.
Speaking in a televised address on Sunday, May 1, 2022, Col Mamady Doumbouya noted that the proposal would now be put to Guinea’s parliament to be voted on.
The announcement came after the Regional Bloc of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), set last Monday, April 25, 2022, as a deadline for the army to give its timeline or face immediate new sanctions. However, the deadline was missed but the junta asked for more time and stated it was considering a transition period of between 18 and 52 months.
On Sunday, Col Doumbouya indicated that the 39-month period which equates to three years and three months was the median proposal and the best time for the country to go to the polls.
His army ousted the elected President in a coup last year– a move many Guineans initially welcomed. But there has been growing discontent as the military junta failed to hand over power to civilian rule. Guinea’s National Transition Council (CNT), an 80-member body set up after the coup to act as a parliament, is also tasked with setting a date for the country’s next election – but is yet to do so.
The Military Will Not Be Part of the New Election
Col Doumbouya, meanwhile, promised that no one close to the military or part of the interim government, including himself, will be allowed to stand in future elections that will determine the next civilian government.
In September 2021, the army overthrew and detained President Alpha Condé, 84, accusing him of rampant corruption and human rights abuses. Mr. Condé had become increasingly unpopular after he changed the constitution so he could stand for a third term as president.
The former French legionnaire, Col Doumbouya was sworn in as Guinea’s interim President the following month, and promised to form a new Union Government with civilian leaders within weeks, but failed to do so.
Many Guineans saw the coup as a chance for a fresh start, and crowds were chanting the military leader’s name in the street. However, the UN, African Union and Ecowas condemned the military takeover and demanded an immediate return to civilian rule.
Series of coups– both failed and successful have rocked West Africa in recent years. The most recent was in Guinea-Bissau in February, which failed and left several people dead. There have been two military takeovers in Mali and a failed attempt in Niger in space of the last two years, raising concerns of a backslide in democracy in West Africa, which over the past decade had begun to shed its reputation as a coup belt.
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