The Supreme Court of Guinea confirmed Saturday that Alpha Condé won a third term as president. Condé’s rivals had raised allegations of voter fraud, which the court rejected.
Condé’s victory comes after a highly contested election. According to official results, he received 59.5 percent of the vote, with an estimated 78.88 percent voter turnout. Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the opposition party Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UDFG), won 33.5 percent of the vote. After the election, Diallo and other opposition leaders alleged that there had been acts of voter fraud. Their allegations were based on data collected by Diallo’s supporters at polling stations, but the constitutional court said they had failed to provide evidence in support of their allegations. Condé’s opponents have no further means of challenging the results. As such, Diallo has called on his supporters to resist by any legal means. Observers from African countries have backed the results, but France, the EU and the US have cast doubts.
Until earlier this year, Guinea’s constitution prohibited Condé from running for a third term. However, Condé pushed through amendments that permitted him to run in the presidential election again. He is Guinea’s first, and so far, only democratically-elected president. He originally took office in 2010 and had previously spent decades fighting for democratic reforms. The constitutional amendments have been decried by rivals, who also insist his third term is unconstitutional.
Alignment with political parties often follows ethnic lines. Condé’s party has a strong backing among the Malinke (a subgroup of the Mandé peoples) ethnic community, while Diallo has the backing of the Fulani peoples. The Malinke and the Fulani comprise roughly the same percentage of Guinea’s population.
Since its independence from France, Guinea has frequently seen bouts of political violence. The lead up to the election in mid-October saw protests against Condé that often turned violent due to police crackdowns. According to official government data, 21 people died as a result of the crackdowns. Diallo’s UDFG insists that the death toll is 46 and published a list of the dead, accompanied by photos of their corpses in support of their claims. They maintain 90 have died during protests since October last year.
