Guinea Government, Opposition Agree On Election Timetable

The long-awaited parliamentary polls will now hold in September.

Guinea's opposition and ruling party on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 agreed to hold long-delayed legislative elections in September in talks mediated by U.N. envoy, Said Djinnit, the Associated Press news agency said. The deal provides for the holding of elections between September 27 and 29, 2013.

Aboubacar Sylla, spokesman for the coalition of opposition parties, said several issues were agreed, including the use of a South African-based contractor, Waymark, to produce voter identity cards. Radio France Internationale, RFI, quoted Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the Democratic Forces of Guinea, UFDG party as confirming that a compromise was reached and what remains is its proper implementation to avoid hitches and delays.

According to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Alassane Condé, the elections will enable Guinea to improve its international credibility, attract much-needed investments and produce a worthy parliament. The elections that ought to have held six months after the inauguration of President Alpha Condé in December 2010 have been repeatedly postponed as a result of disagreements between the ruling party and opposition. Wednesday's agreement followed two days of talks, but observers warn that holding transparent elections in September depends on the implementation of the calendar.

Guinea held its first democratic election in 2010. Although deemed to be generally transparent, the vote was marred by the deep ethnic divide it revealed between the country's Malinke and Peul people. Decades of unrest have turned the country into one of the world's poorest nations. Paradoxically, Guinea is not only rich in gold, diamonds and timber, but also has the world's largest reserves of bauxite, the raw ingredient used to make aluminum.