Guinea’s military junta sets up election body for upcoming votes

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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Guinea’s military junta has created a new institution that will be responsible for managing elections, including a constitutional referendum in September and the general and presidential elections set for December.

Guinea is one of several West African countries where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule. Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya, in power since 2021, agreed in 2022 to launch a democratic transition after a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline.

The ruling junta’s failure to meet the deadline led to opposition protests that paralyzed Guinea’s capital Conakry in January.

The Directorate General of Elections, or DGE, will be responsible, among other duties, for organizing elections, managing the electoral register and ensuring electoral fairness, junta leader Doumbouya announced in a decree read on state television late Saturday.

The two heads of the institution will be appointed by presidential decree, he added. The DGE will also represent Guinea in subregional, regional, and international electoral bodies.

Last month, Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said the general and presidential elections will take place in December 2025. He also confirmed the organization of a referendum to adopt a new constitution on Sept. 21, as announced by the junta in April.

There are concerns about the credibility of the elections. The military regime dissolved more than 50 political parties last year in a move it claimed was to “clean up the political chessboard.”

It has also tightened the grip on independent media, rights groups say, with social networks and private radio stations often cut off and information sites interrupted or suspended for several months without explanation, while journalists face attacks and arrests.