In a sky blue boubou, hat and anti-Covid mask, Cellou Dalein Diallo speeded up the body responsible for organizing the presidential election - the Ceni.
"My dear compatriots, despite the anomalies which marred the election of October 18 and in view of the results that came out of the polls, I emerge victorious from this election in the first round," Cellou Dalein Diallo told the press on Monday, October 19, at the headquarters of his formation, the Union of Democratic Forces (UFDG), in the popular suburb of Conakry.
"I invite all my compatriots who love peace and justice to remain vigilant and mobilized to defend this victory for democracy," added the opposition candidate who, at 68, was running for the third time.
His statement, barely two minutes long, was greeted with howls of joy from his supporters and cries of "President Cellou".
Excited supporters took to the rooftops.
My dear compatriots,
Despite the serious anomalies which marred the smooth running of the October 18 ballot and given the results that came out of the ballot box, I came out victorious in this election in the first round.
- Cellou Dalein Diallo (@Cellou_UFDG) October 19, 2020
Cellou Dalein Diallo's camp had warned Monday that he would communicate his own results without consulting - the Céni - fearing to be "stolen" the victory, as was the case according to him in 2010 and 2015, against Alpha Condé.
The current 82-year-old president is running for a third consecutive term despite months of murderous protest.
"Provisional results announced by the end of the week"
The Céni deemed "premature", "null and void" the declaration of Cellou Dalein Diallo.
It is up to the Ceni to announce the provisional results, probably "by the end of the week", then to the Constitutional Court to validate them, he told AFP.
Getting ahead of the Ceni would amount to adding "fuel to the fire", however, Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, who is also the outgoing president's campaign director, warned Sunday evening.
"It is creating the conditions for a situation of degradation that will spiral out of control."
The Security Ministry insisted that it was illegal.
The party of the outgoing president, the Rally of the People of Guinea, said in a statement to condemn "with the utmost firmness the irresponsible and dangerous statement" of Cellou Dalein Diallo.
He asked his activists to remain "calm, serene and mobilized" while awaiting official results.
Tear gas
After Cellou Dalein Diallo's statement, his supporters came out by the hundreds along one of the axes crossing the suburbs to celebrate what they call the victory and to see the motorcyclists speeding by sounding their horns and giving themselves up. acrobatics to express their jubilation.
Security forces in riot gear were deployed in large numbers at the main crossroads.
They fired tear gas to disperse supporters who blocked the roads near his home and elsewhere along the avenue, AFP journalists noted.
Cellou Dalein Diallo then accused the security forces on Twitter of having shot dead three "young boys" on Monday evening who hailed his victory.
When questioned, a government official said he "did not have enough information".
AFP has not been able to confirm these deaths from an independent source, but its journalists on the ground saw several people injured in a neighborhood of Conakry.
As young people peacefully celebrated my victory, the SDF fired at the crowd resulting in the deaths of three young boys and several gunshot wounds.
I offer my condolences to the families and condemn these new crimes to be credited to Alpha Condé.
- Cellou Dalein Diallo (@Cellou_UFDG) October 19, 2020
"Turn the page"
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.
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 proposes to "turn the nightmarish page of 10 years of lies", denouncing authoritarian drift, police repression, corruption, youth unemployment and poverty.
A second round, if it should take place, is scheduled for November 24.
With AFP
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