Guinea opposition urges military to accelerate transition

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - One of the leading opposition parties in Guinea called on the ruling military junta on Tuesday to accelerate the country’s transition process.

Union of Democrats for the Renaissance of Guinea (UDRG) leader Bah Oury made the demand one day after the junta indicated it is not working under pressure to establish the National Transitional Council (CNT).

The Economic Community of West African States bloc (ECOWAS) said Sunday that transitional authorities informed the Conference of Heads of State that the CNT will be established by the end of December.

But the regime denied that on Monday, saying in a statement that the pace of the establishment of the CNT will “depend on the promptness of all stakeholders in the appointment of their representatives.”

Oury said the statement should be addressed to the national community, indicating the reasons for the delay in the publication of the list of council members.

“We take note, I hope that by the end of the year this [publication of the list of council members] will have been finished so that we can work on something else,” he told reporters.

“There are only two weeks left, it must finish by the end of the year, we will not try to polemicize on that. But we must accelerate the pace, show responsibility because it is the national interest that is at stake in this case,” he added.

The junta pointed to difficulties linked to the large number of candidates nominated for the transition council, with 706 candidates registered for 81 positions.

The group, which overthrew President Alpha Conde in September, unveiled its "transitional charter" that it said would help steer the West African country back to civilian rule.

The transition charter outlines a series of tasks, including the drafting of a new Constitution and holding free, democratic and transparent elections, but it was silent on the duration of the transition.

ECOWAS leaders have demanded the junta provide a timetable for elections that would lead to a return to civilian rule.

The bloc's leaders said Monday that they remained "very concerned that three months after the coup d'etat, a timetable for the return of constitutional order is yet to be issued.”

It pressed the junta to hold elections within six months, as they have previously stated.

In the meantime, ECOWAS has maintained sanctions imposed on the regime.

The military, led by Col. Mamady Doumbouya, deposed Conde on Sept. 5.

Conde, 83, became Guinea's first democratically elected president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015.

But last year he pushed through constitutional changes that allowed him to run for a controversial third term in October 2020, which he won in an election dismissed as a sham by the opposition.​​​​​​​