CONAKRY, Guinea
The military in Guinea, which seized power more than two years ago, has dissolved the government in the West African nation and said it will appoint a new administration.
Military leaders released a
video statement late on Monday to say that directors of cabinet, secretary
generals and their deputies would be in charge until a new government was
formed. The government has been in office since July 2022.
The presidency’s secretary
general, Amara Camara, was flanked by other military officials and several
armed and masked soldiers in the pre-recorded video when he delivered the
unexpected news.
It is still unclear how the
dissolution, which Camara did not provide a reason for, would immediately
affect the country or who the senior members of a new government would be.
The military took
power in a coup in September 2021 after the country’s first
democratically elected president, Alpha Conde, was deposed.
Under international pressure,
military leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya had promised to hand the reins of
government back to elected civilians by the end of 2024.
The country’s special forces
led the putsch after a long period of political tension in Guinea, which was
first spurred by Conde’s highly controversial attempt for a third presidential
term in 2020.
The former president had
emerged victorious in an election after pushing through a new constitution in
March 2020 that allowed him to ignore the country’s two-term limit for
presidency and run for a third term.
Dozens of people had been
killed at the time during demonstrations against a third
term for Conde after clashes with security forces. Hundreds more were
arrested.
The government had also arrested
several prominent opposition members for their alleged role in
inciting and abetting electoral violence in Guinea.
The Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), the region’s main economic and political bloc, has
been pressuring the military to hold elections and restore civilian rule.
The military leaders in Guinea
and the ECOWAS had agreed on a 24-month transition timeline in October 2022.
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