2020 Guinean presidential election

2020 Guinean presidential election
← 2015 18 October 2020 2024 →
Registered5,367,198
Turnout79.51%
 
Nominee Alpha Condé Cellou Dalein Diallo
Party RPG UFDG
Popular vote 2,438,815 1,372,920
Percentage 59.50% 33.49%
President before election

Alpha Condé
RPG

Elected President

Alpha Condé
RPG

Politics of Guinea
Constitution
Government
Parliament
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations

Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 18 October 2020. Incumbent president Alpha Condé was running for a third term.[1][2] He was challenged by former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo,[3] as well as several other candidates.

Background

Main article: 2020 Guinean constitutional referendum

The Guinean constitution limits a president to two terms. However, changes in the new constitution passed in the controversial constitutional referendum earlier in the year included resetting the presidential terms allowing incumbent president Alpha Condé to run for a third term.[4] Both the referendum and the legislative election being run alongside it was boycotted by most of the opposition, and was marred by protests.[5][6]

Former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo who ran against Condé and placed second in the previous two presidential elections ran again after first considering boycotting the vote, and was seen as the main challenger. Protests against the incumbent president have continued throughout the year. The protests have been harshly repressed by security forces claiming a number of civilian lives.[3][7]

Electoral system

The elections were held using the two-round system, with a second round taking place between the top two finishers on 24 November 2020 if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round.[8]

Results

Preliminary estimates were reported to indicate that Diallo was in the lead.[9] On 19 October, Diallo declared himself the winner of the election despite the official results not being known yet, based on polling information gathered by his party. The incumbent president condemned this declaration as "irresponsible and dangerous." The electoral commission expected the official results to be released by the end of the week.[10] With 96.14% of the results counted, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared incumbent president Alpha Condé the winner in the first round with 59.49% of the vote on 24 October.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Alpha CondéRally of the Guinean People2,438,81559.50
Cellou Dalein DialloUnion of Democratic Forces of Guinea1,372,92033.49
Ibrahima Abé SyllaNew Generation for the Republic63,6761.55
Ousmane Kaba [fr]Party of Democrats for Hope [fr]48,6231.19
Ousmane Doré [fr]National Movement for Development46,2351.13
Makalé CamaraFront for National Alliance29,9580.73
Makalé Traoré [fr]Party of Civic Action for Work29,5890.72
Abdoul Kabèlè CamaraGuinean Rally for Development [fr]22,5070.55
Abdoulaye KouroumaRally for Renaissance and Development19,0730.47
Moro Mandjouf Sidibé [fr]Alliance for the Forces of Change10,3620.25
Laye Souleymane Diallo [fr]Party of Freedom and Progress9,6190.23
Bouya Konaté [fr]Union for the Defence of Republican Interests7,5440.18
Total4,098,921100.00
Valid votes4,098,92196.05
Invalid/blank votes168,6533.95
Total votes4,267,574100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,367,19879.51
Source: CENI Guinea

Aftermath

Diallo called for mass demonstrations after Condé's victory was certified by the election commission. The post-election period saw national protests in which at least 12 people were killed by security forces, including two children in Conakry.[11]

Monitors from the African Union and ECOWAS said the election took place transparently and was conducted properly.[12]

In September 2021, the military overthrew Condé in a coup d'état and detained him.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "For Malick Sankhon, "Alpha Condé will be a candidate in 2020"". Guinée Time. 18 January 2020. (in French)
  2. ^ "Presidential election in Guinea: the Ceni proposes the date of October 18, 2020". RFI. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020. (in French)
  3. ^ a b "Cellou Dalein Diallo ne boycotte pas la présidentielle en Guinée". BBC News Afrique (in French). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Guinea voters back controversial constitution changes". Al Jazeera. 27 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Guinea elections: The 82-year-old seeking six more years". BBC News. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  6. ^ Mohamed, Hamza. "Guinea to hold contested polls boycotted by opposition". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  7. ^ Asala, Kizzi (8 August 2020). "Ousmane Kaba Declares His Run as Guinean Presidential Candidate". Africanews. AP. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  8. ^ Republic of Guinea IFES
  9. ^ "Presidential election in Guinea: troubling signs for Alpha Condé after the first round | Africa Times". africatimes.com. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  10. ^ Diallo, Boubacar; Larson, Krista (19 October 2020). "Guinea's opposition leader claims election victory". AP NEWS. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. ^ "World Report 2021: Rights Trends in Guinea". Human Rights Watch. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  12. ^ "AU, ECOWAS monitors say Guinea election conducted properly". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  13. ^ Samb, Saliou (2021-09-06). "Elite Guinea army unit says it has toppled president". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-01-19.