After a presidential election which seems to have mobilized the Guineans and to have taken place in calm, Sunday, October 18, the tension begins to rise in the country.

In question: the publication of the results by the opposition while the electoral commission (Céni) has not yet communicated any figures.

The camp of Cellou Dalein Diallo, 68, who is worried about cheating, said Monday, October 19 that he would publish results compiled by him with data collected from all over the country.

He would thus bypass the electoral commission or, subsequently, the Constitutional Court, which he considers subservient.

During the night, partial results were published on news sites.

Apparently spontaneous protests have been reported in certain neighborhoods of the capital Conakry favorable to Cellou Dalein Diallo to celebrate what would be his victory. 

Diallo's party, the Union of Democratic Forces (UFDG), says it fears being "stolen" the victory, as was the case according to him in 2010 and 2015, already against Alpha Condé - who is running, at 82, a third consecutive term despite months of murderous protest.

"The clash was narrowly avoided"

The government does not hide its concern in front of the anticipated publications.

The Ministry of Security insisted that they were prohibited.

“The clash was narrowly avoided” during the night's rallies, he said.

In a possible sign of firmness, the High Authority of Communication suspended for a month the information site GuinéeMatin.com, guilty according to a statement read on national television of having broadcast live on social networks of counting operations .

To get ahead of the Ceni would amount to adding "fuel to the fire," Prime Minister Kassory Fofana, who is also director of the outgoing president's campaign, stressed on Sunday evening.

"It is creating the conditions for a situation of degradation which will spiral out of control," he warned.

The UFDG says it fears "the victory will be stolen"

"The polling stations display the results by polling station. From the moment it is posted, it is a public result. So the UFDG will publish the results. If we are winners, we will defend our victory (. ..) We will not wait for the Constitutional Court, we will not wait for the Ceni, "assured one of its officials, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo.

In front of the first publications, the party of Alpha Condé accused in a press release the UFDG of seeking to usurp victory.

However this "is almost impossible if we observe the trends which reach us. As proof, their leader was miserably beaten in his own polling station".

A proclamation of a global result by official electoral bodies should be "a matter of a week", the prime minister said.

The UFDG intends to go much faster.     

A second round, if it should take place, is scheduled for November 24.

Even before the start of the counting, the opposition began to denounce ballot stuffing and obstructions made to the presence of its representatives in polling stations.

The government has reported minor incidents.

One year of civil dispute against a 3rd term of Alpha Condé

For months, the opposition mobilized against the prospect of a third term for Alpha Condé.

The protest, launched in October 2019, was harshly repressed.

Dozens of civilians have been killed.

The number of presidential terms is limited to two.

But for Alpha Condé, the Constitution he had adopted in March to, he says, modernize the country resets its counter to zero.

The acrimonious campaign was punctuated by invective, incidents and clashes that left several militants injured.

A former historic opponent who became the first democratically elected president in 2010 after years of authoritarian regimes, Alpha Condé claims to have put back a country he had found in ruins and to have advanced human rights.

Cellou Dalein Diallo suggests "turning the nightmarish page of ten years of lies", denouncing authoritarian drift, police repression, corruption, youth unemployment and poverty.

With AFP

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