Guinea referendum could legitimise junta rule

Polls open in Guinea for a controversial referendum over a draft constitution that would allow the leader of the country’s junta to run for president, reports AP news on September 22.

The referendum is crucial in Guinea’s move from military to civilian rule and is being closely monitored. Yet critics have labelled it a power grab, fearing it would allow Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya to seek the presidency and legitimise his military rule.

The draft constitution would allow junta members to run for office and extend the presidential mandate from five to seven years, renewable twice.

There are 6.7 million eligible voters, with a turnout of 50% needed to pass.

The election has come after the junta set up the Directorate General of Elections, a department focused on planning and organising elections, in June.

Dozens of Guineans wearing their best outfits queue inside polling stations. However, the mood inside is starkly different as tanks and military barricades in the streets remind Guineans of the junta’s rule.

Weeks before the referendum, the military suspended 3 opposition parties, making it impossible for these parties to rally or speak to the population. Last year, the military regime dissolved more than 50 political parties in a move it claimed was to “clean up the political chessboard.”

More than half of Guinea’s population cannot read or write and so are only receiving information from the “yes” camp – a camp in favour of the junta’s draft constitution – Rafiou Sow, the President of the suspended oppositional Renewal and Progress Party, has said whilst calling for a boycott upon the entire referendum.

“Our activists and supporters have no knowledge of this constitution. The moment we were excluded, they were excluded,” he said. “We, who were supposed to help Guineans understand what is written in it, we are forbidden even to speak.”

As the military regime has been marked by increased censorship and silencing of oppositional voices, critics have denounced the referendum as a way to legitimise the military coup through the upcoming December elections.

Military coups have taken over multiple governments in West Africa, including Burkina Faso where homosexuality has just been made illegal and a UN reporter was expelled for releasing a damming child abuse report.

AP News, Maghrebi.org