Despite boycott by opposition, Guinea set to go ahead with contested polls

Guinea will go ahead with a contested election to elect members of parliament and vote on a proposed constitutional reform despite opposition calling for a boycott of the polls.

Opposition groups have accused President Conde of planning to use the constitutional referendum to extend his stay in office for a third term as president of the West African country.

The opposition leaders argued further that Conde, the country’s first democratically elected leader, is planning to use the new constitution as a reset button on the current two five-year term limits.

“Alpha Conde is trying to change the constitution to stay in power for life,” Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) party and the main opposition leader, told Al Jazeera.

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“Many of our people have been killed protesting this decision. It is their constitutional right to protest against his decision,” added Diallo, a former prime minister.

Conde has ruled the West African country since 2010; his second and final five-year term will come to an end in December.

Under the country’s current constitution, the 82-year-old leader is not allowed to seek a third term which critics say has forced the leader to moot a constitutional reset to extend his stay in office.

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