In Guinea, the campaign for the constitutional referendum will open Sunday without opposition: the Guinean media has been banned from giving a voice to the main political parties, which have been suspended or dissolved.

The draft new constitution, which is intended to end the political transition since the military seized power in 2021, will be put to a vote by Guinea's approximately 6.7 million voters on September 21.

Since its inception, the junta led by General Mamadi Doumbouya has increased restrictions on freedoms in the country. Since 2022, it has banned all demonstrations and has arrested, prosecuted, or forced many opponents into exile.

The latest measure to date: the suspension, on August 23, for three months, of the three main opposition parties, including the Rally of the People of Guinea (formerly the ruling party), accused by the junta of having "not fulfilled their obligations", in particular those of refraining from "holding demonstrations or any act of political propaganda".

Several dozen parties have already been suspended or dissolved in recent months by the military, who cite the need to "clean up the political scene."

During a meeting with the press on Thursday, the president of Guinea's High Authority for Communication (HAC), Boubacar Yacine Diallo, affirmed that the media "must not give voice to political parties and structures in conflict with the law, which are prohibited from operating."

To do so would be "an offense," he warned.

This ban comes just days before the start of the campaign on Sunday for the referendum called by General Mamadi Doumbouya, which is supposed to pave the way for a return to constitutional order.

"Very serious" measure

The provisions of this text do not allow us to know explicitly whether General Doumbouya will be able to stand in a future presidential election or not, but everything seems to indicate that he will be a candidate.

Since 2022, members of the government and supporters of the junta have been increasing calls for Mr. Doumbouya to run, even though he had promised not to run and to return power to civilians.

The opposition, which accuses him of wanting to seize power through the referendum, has called for demonstrations starting on September 5.

Liberal Bloc party president Faya Millimouno, one of the few voices still daring to criticize the junta, denounced the measure as "very serious" to the press on Friday. The HAC must "observe a minute of silence in memory of the freedom of the press that it helped to kill," he castigated.

In a statement released Thursday evening, the Forum of Social Forces of Guinea (FFSG), a coalition of some forty Guinean civil society organizations, called for the referendum to be postponed, deeming the process "poorly prepared" and "divisive" and denouncing the junta's repression of the opposition.

The FFSG cited in particular "the absence of a certified electoral register", the refusal of opposition leaders to register and the "absolute absorption" of the election management body by the Ministry of Territorial Administration.

Under international pressure, the military initially pledged to hand power back to elected officials by the end of 2024. They have since failed to keep this promise.

A "transitional charter" drawn up by the junta shortly after the coup requires that no member of the junta or government, nor any official in the transitional institutions, stand for election.

The adoption of the draft constitution could break this barrier in a country ruled for decades by dictatorial regimes.

AFP