Guinean authorities have dissolved dozens of political parties and placed the others under observation on Monday this week, while the transitional government has yet to announce a date for elections.
The mass dissolution of 53 political parties and required observation of 54 others for three months is unprecedented in Guinea, which held its first democratic election in 2010 after decades of authoritarian rule. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization announced the moves based on an evaluation of all political parties that began in June. The Ministry indicated that the evaluation was a move meant to “clean up the political chessboard,” in the country.
The parties that will be under observation for three months can operate normally but must resolve irregularities noted in an earlier report prepared. Those parties include the Rally of the Guinean People, which is the party of former President Alpha Condé, and another major opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea.
The authorities said the parties placed under observation failed to hold their party congress within the time limit given them and are yet to provide their bank statements for scrutiny, among other issues.
Guinea is one of a growing number of West African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule. Earlier this year, the military junta in Burkina Faso extended its transition term by five years.
The West African country led by a military regime headed by Col Mamady Doumbouya ousted civilian President Alpha Conde in 2021. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has pushed for a return to civilian rule and elections are scheduled for 2025.
Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who leads Guinea, overran the president three years ago, saying he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises.
However, since coming to power he’s been criticized by some for being no better than his predecessor. In February, the military leader dissolved the government without explanation, saying a new one will be appointed.
Doumbouya has rebuffed attempts by the West and other developed countries to intervene in Africa’s political challenges, saying Africans are “exhausted by the categorizations with which everyone wants to box us in.”
Additional Sources: Africa News, AP News, BBC
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