AU calls for peace amid protest over Guinea poll
Guinea's President and presidential candidate Alpha Condé casts his ballot at a polling station in Conakry on October 11, 2015. The African Union observer mission in Guinea has urged opposition politicians to respect the results of Sunday’s presidential poll. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The opposition leaders called on their supporters not to recognise the poll outcome and urged them to defy it.
- President Condé is running for a second five-year mandate after he won a controversial poll in 2010 that led to the constitutional court sending the then election commission to one year jail but died before beginning the term.
DAKAR
The African Union observer mission in Guinea has urged opposition politicians to respect the results of Sunday’s presidential poll.
The mission further urged the opposition politicians to use legal means to petition any discrepancies in voting.
Former Djibouti Premier and head of the AU mission, Dileita Mohamed Dileita made the appeal Tuesday when he and the EU delegation briefed the media.
Both delegations urged politicians in Guinea to do all they can to preserve the peace that prevailed during Sunday’s ballot “in the supreme interest of Guineans”.
On Monday, all seven opposition presidential hopefuls vowed not to recognise the first round results and called for new elections over allegations of “massive fraud”.
The opposition leaders called on their supporters not to recognise the poll outcome and urged them to defy it.
The delegations acknowledged that several anomalies were conspicuous at several polling stations but “this did not have a negative impact on the voting process.”
Electoral commission officials said tentative results will be available by Tuesday evening.
An estimated 60 per cent of the six million voters turned out for the polls – a record participation in the country.
Vote counts continued immediately following the ballot on Sunday night with incumbent President Alpha Condé alleged to be in the lead but without a precise figure.
President Condé is running for a second five-year mandate after he won a controversial poll in 2010 that led to the constitutional court sending the then election commission to one year jail but died before beginning the term.
