Guinea holds talks in Conakry to prepare transition back to civil rule

More than a week after a military coup ousted Guinean strongman Alpha Condé, junta boss Lt.-Col. Mamady Doumbouya has requested talks to form a transitional government, media reports from the capital, Conakry, indicate.

Guinea is holding a four-day conference this week to prepare a transition back to civilian democratic rule following a Sept. 5 military coup led by Doumbouya.

The coup led to the suspension of the impoverished West African nation from the African Union (AU) and the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Reporting from outside the national parliament in Conakry, FRANCE 24’s James André said the talks would be held in the compound, where Doumbouya is currently based and where Condé has been detained.

“Mamady Doumbouya is going to receive all the main stakeholders in the country, starting with the country’s party leaders,” said André.

Speaking to FRANCE 24, Cellou Dalein Diallo, head of the main opposition party, said he was ready to offer his services.

The president of the Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée (UFDG) party said his teams were “working to establish what reforms and steps need to be taken to achieve a fair, transparent election.

“For example, we need a voter list, an electoral law, and we need to know how long each action will take,” Diallo said.

Several Guineans, including civil society activists, fed up with Alpha Conde, particularly his constitutional amendments that enabled a term extension, say they are willing to support the junta’s bid to transition the country to civilian rule.

“The military takeover has made the people very hopeful, I’d say too hopeful actually,” said Dansa Kourouma, president of the National Council of Civil Society Organisations (CNOSCG).

“We want to tell them they cannot afford any mistakes.

“We hope that Guinean democratic foundations can be rebuilt consensually and successfully within a reasonable time frame.”