{"id":6758,"date":"2025-12-28T10:10:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T10:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6758"},"modified":"2025-12-28T10:10:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T10:10:04","slug":"guinea-votes-in-first-polls-since-2021-coup-military-leader-likely-to-win-elections-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6758","title":{"rendered":"Guinea votes in first polls since 2021 coup, military leader likely to win | Elections News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Mamady Doumbouya may win amid accusations of restrictions on the media and the opposition parties.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 28 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">28 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Guinea is holding a presidential election in which incumbent military leader General Mamady Doumbouya, who took power in a 2021 coup, is widely anticipated to secure victory.<\/p>\n<p>Some 6.7 million registered voters will go to the polls, which opened at 07:00 GMT on Sunday and will close at 18:00 GMT.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The former special forces commander, aged 41, faces eight other candidates in the election, as ousted President Alpha Conde and longtime opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo remain in exile.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition has called for a boycott of the vote in the mineral-rich country where 52 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to World Bank figures.<\/p>\n<p>While long blighted by coups, Guinea experienced a democratic transition with the November 2010 election of Alpha Conde, the country\u2019s first freely elected president. Doumbouya overthrew him in September 2021.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4199596\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4199596\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4199596\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/afp_6950e4887ab1-1766909064.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Officials of the General Directorate of Elections (DGE) set up a ballot box at a polling station in Conakry on December 28, 2025 before polls open during Guinea's presidential election. (Photo by Patrick MEINHARDT \/ AFP)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4199596\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Officials set up a ballot box at a polling station in Conakry [Patrick Meinhardt\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Under Doumbouya, Guinea effectively \u201creverted to what it has essentially known since independence in 1958: authoritarian regimes, whether civilian or military\u201d, Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi, told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n<p>Provisional results could be announced within two days, according to Djenabou Toure, head of the General Directorate of Elections.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"restrictions-on-opposition\">Restrictions on opposition<\/h2>\n<p>Political debate has been muted under Doumbouya. Civil society groups accuse his government of banning protests, curbing press freedom and restricting opposition activity.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign period \u201chas been severely restricted, marked by intimidation of opposition actors, apparently politically motivated enforced disappearances, and constraints on media freedom\u201d, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>These conditions \u201crisk undermining the credibility of the electoral process\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition leader Diallo has condemned the vote as \u201can electoral charade\u201d aimed at giving legitimacy to \u201cthe planned confiscation of power\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Guinea approved a new constitution in a referendum, which the opposition called on voters to boycott.<\/p>\n<p>The new document allowed military leaders to stand for election, paving the way for Doumbouya\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n<p>It also lengthened presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable once.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"hope-things-will-be-sorted\">\u2018Hope things will be sorted\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Guinea holds the world\u2019s largest bauxite reserves and the richest untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou, officially launched last month after years of delay.<\/p>\n<p>Doumbouya has claimed credit for pushing the project forward and ensuring Guinea benefits from its output. His government this year also revoked EGA subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation\u2019s licence after a refinery dispute, transferring its assets to a state-owned firm.<\/p>\n<p>The turn towards resource nationalism \u2013 echoed in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger \u2013 has boosted his popularity, as has his youth in a country where the median age is about 19.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us young people, Doumbouya represents the opportunity to send the old political class into retirement,\u201d Mohamed Kaba, a mechanic in Conakry, told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a lot of corruption right now, but I hope these things will be sorted out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mamady Doumbouya may win amid accusations of restrictions on the media and the opposition parties. Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Guinea is holding a presidential election in which incumbent military leader General Mamady Doumbouya, who took power in a 2021 coup, is widely anticipated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}