Protests against the ruling government in Guinea and President Alpha Condé took a violent turn after the resumption of demonstrations following the three-month coronavirus lockdown. Condé has indicated his intention of extending his rule past the two five-year terms he is constitutionally allowed to serve.
Opposition party leader Cellou Dalein Diallo said, “I think that we achieved the goal to show that in Guinea there are people who suffer injustice and that the people of Guinea do not support this third mandate of President Alpha Condé.”
The Guinean Minister of Security and Civil Protection, Albert Damathan Camara called on protestors to adopt democratic and diplomatic means of protesting. He said, “Given the objectives of the FNDC (the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution), they should have realized since 22 March that this approach had no chance of succeeding and should have relied on what has always brought us together, namely, dialogue.”
Camara added, “Even if it was sometimes difficult to implement the agreements, in the end they allowed us to spend a decade in the exercise of democracy and building our democracy.”
Condé took office during the country’s first democratic elections in 2010, and regained his incumbency in 2016. Guinea’s constitution stipulates that a president can serve a maximum of two five-year terms. However, Condé and the ruling party have indicated that they are willing to scrap this rule.
The president also holds the support of powerful international actors. For instance, the now-former Russian ambassador to the country, Alexander Bregadze, has previously described Condé as “legendary” and called on the country to amend its constitution to allow the leader to “reinvigorate” the country. In a state broadcasted interview, Bregadze asked incredulously, “Do you know many countries in Africa that do better? Do you know many presidents in Africa who do better? He declared, “It’s constitutions that adapt to reality, not realities that adapt to constitutions.”
Russia’s interest in keeping Condé lies in its economic interests in the country. In May 2020, Bregadze left his role as ambassador to become the regional head of Rusal, the world’s second largest aluminium company, in Guinea. Russia has employed similar tactics in Zimbabwe, the Central Arican Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in a bid to expand its sphere of influence to rival that of China and the United States (US).
Following Bregadze’s statement on amending the Guinean constitution, in May 2019, Prime Minister Ibrahima Fofana said that the government is considering this option, which prompted the resignation of the erstwhile justice minister. In fact, a leaked memo from June 2019, that was signed by the foreign affairs minister Mamadi Toure, reveals that the government has told its diplomatic messages of its proposed constitutional amendments. At the same time, billboards speaking in favor of a new constitution have been put up in the capital, Conakry.
And then in September 2019, Condé himself confirmed the rumors, saying, “I instruct the prime minister to initiate consultations to gather the opinions of others in an open exchange.”
In response, for months, protestors have taken to the streets to call for a re-think. Several wear red clothing, which is the color of the opposition coalition, the Front National Pour La Défense De La Constitution (FNDC). Military and paramilitary forces have responded with brutal force, while opposition leaders have been jailed. While these protests were put on somewhat of a hiatus during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, they are now in full-swing once again.
Guineans Protest Against Condé’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Extend Rule
The President plans to amend the two-term limit to seek election in October.
July 27, 2020
SOURCE: REUTERS