Guinea’s junta head General Mamady Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after seizing power four years ago, has been elected president after securing a sweeping majority of the vote, according to initial results published late on Tuesday by the country’s election commission.
Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency, but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote held over the weekend.
In standing, the general reneged on his initial vow not to run for office and to hand the mineral-rich, but poor west African nation back to civilian rule by the end of 2024.
Photo: AFP
He secured 86.72 percent of the first-round vote, the Guinean General Directorate of Elections said, well over the threshold that would trigger a runoff vote.
Voter turnout stood at 80.95 percent, Guinean General Directorate of Elections Director Djenabou Toure said.
Doumbouya had placed well ahead in districts of the capital, Conakry, often winning more than 80 percent, according to official partial results read out by Toure earlier on RTG public television.
However, a citizens’ movement calling for the return of civilian rule questioned the results.
“A huge majority of Guineans chose to boycott the electoral charade,” the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution said in a statement on Monday.
In September 2021, Doumbouya led a coup to topple Guinea’s first freely elected president, Alpha Conde.
He has cracked down on civil liberties and banned protests, while opponents have been arrested, put on trial or driven into exile.
Candidate Abdoulaye Yero Balde denounced “serious irregularities,” citing in a statement late on Monday in particular the refusal to grant his representatives access to vote-counting centers and allegations of “ballot stuffing” in some areas.
Another candidate, Faya Millimono, complained of “electoral banditry” linked to influence exerted on voters.
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