Guinea military rulers suspend three opposition parties before referendum

Move comes arsenic draught constitution is being enactment to a ballot adjacent month, raising fears for antiauthoritarian transition.

Guinea‘s subject rulers person suspended the country’s 3 main absorption parties, including that of erstwhile President Alpha Conde, successful the run-up to a law referendum adjacent month.

The bid connected Saturday prevents Conde’s Rally of the Guinean People, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, led by erstwhile Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the Party of Renewal and Progress from engaging successful immoderate governmental activities for 90 days with contiguous effect.

“These parties person not fulfilled the obligations required of them,” the bid stated.

In a abstracted bid work connected authorities tv precocious connected Friday, Guinea’s subject rulers besides declared that the commencement of the predetermination run play for a revised constitution had been pushed backmost a week, to August 31.

Since Friday, parties person been allowed to advertise their proposals for a caller mentation of the constitution. The referendum is scheduled for September 21.

The suspension comes arsenic the West African nation’s main parties and civilian nine groups prepared to clasp demonstrations from September 5 to condemn what they spot arsenic a powerfulness drawback by subject person General Mamady Doumbouya.

The country’s absorption has travel retired against the referendum connected a caller constitution organised by Doumbouya, who took powerfulness successful September 2021 when a coup toppled Conde, who had been president for 10 years.

Doumbouya’s military-run authorities has banned each demonstrations since 2022, and it has arrested, prosecuted oregon pushed into exile respective absorption leaders.

Reporting from Dakar successful neighbouring Senegal, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said that for Guinea’s absorption parties, Saturday’s suspension “strips distant immoderate pretence that the modulation was really moving to support democracy”.

“When Colonel Doumbouya came to powerfulness successful a coup … helium promised not lone to bolster ideology but to springiness much abstraction to governmental parties and civilian society,” Haque explained.

“What we’re seeing present is 3 main governmental parties – including the 1 of the erstwhile president, Alpha Conde – banned, incapable to spell retired and canvass, to station [on] societal media. It feels for them similar a clamping down connected their voice.”

Haque added that the determination volition punctual much radical to instrumentality to the streets successful protest. “We’re going to spot much radical going retired connected the streets, confronting the information forces,” helium said.

A draught constitution was presented to Doumbouya successful June.

Its substance opens the mode to a instrumentality to civilian rule, though it does not marque wide whether Doumbouya could basal arsenic a campaigner successful the adjacent statesmanlike election.

A “transition charter” drawn up by the subject authorities soon aft the coup had stipulated that nary of its leaders, authorities members oregon heads of institutions would beryllium capable to basal successful elections.

The adoption of a caller constitution could bash distant with that restriction, successful a state that has spent decades ruled by dictatorial governments.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies