GUINEA’S RUN-OFF presidential election could be postponed because of a “deplorable” lack of preparation, according to the new head of the country’s electoral commission.
Malian general Toumany Sangare, who was appointed this week to oversee the poll, said he did not want to send voters to the ballot boxes when the conditions of the vote did “not respect international standards”. Doing so, he said, would mean the results would be disputed afterwards.
The vote, which has been twice delayed because of allegations over fraud and clashes between rival supporters, is supposed to go ahead tomorrow.
However, 30 computers used for counting have been stolen and sealed envelopes for voters have not been distributed, according to the electoral commission.
Meanwhile, more than 10,000 voters in the capital Conakry are still waiting to receive their voting cards, while there is a shortfall of 5,000 cards for expatriate voters in Guinea-Bissau.
Twenty-four civilians ran in the first round of voting in June, regarded as the country’s first democratic vote since independence from France in 1958.
It saw former prime minister Cellou Dallein Diallo win 44 per cent of the vote as against 18 per cent for veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde, in second place. Both men are contesting the planned run-off.
Gen Sangare is overseeing an election that it is hoped will draw a line under years of authoritarian rule in the west African country.
Despite being home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, the main source of aluminium, Guinea is ranked as the 12th poorest country in the world, according to the UNDP’s Human Development Index.
After wars in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia in the 1980s and 1990s, international investors have finally begun developing the country’s infrastructure in return for mining rights.