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External Help Said to be Needed to End Guinea Stalemate

   Peter Clottey 04 October 2010
   Guinean  soldiers  remove boxes filled with electoral materials from a
   warehouse on fire in a military camp in Conakry, 16 Sep 2010

Photo: AFP

   Guinean  soldiers  remove boxes filled with electoral materials from a
   warehouse on fire in a military camp in Conakry, 16 Sep 2010

   A  top  official  of  the  Union  of Democratic Forces party in Guinea
   (UDFG)  said Guineans feel betrayed by the transitional government for
   its  failure  to resolve the ongoing stalemate which he said threatens
   to derail the proposed 10^th October round-off vote.

   Yousouff  Sylla,  a  special  adviser  to former Prime Minister Cellou
   Dalein  Diallo  called  on  the international community, including the
   African  Union  and  the  Economic  Community  of  West African States
   (ECOWAS)  to help resolve the stalemate and pave way for the round-off
   vote.

   âWe  are  now at a stalemate and things are not moving as we expected.
   Itâs  now  almost  four months since the first round of elections went
   on.  This  is exceptionally too long. We feel that something has to be
   done  to  get  things  moving  again and speed up the process. At this
   stage,  we  feel that we need an outside international intervention to
   help us,â he said.

   Both  rival  parties, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party, led
   by  veteran  opposition  leader Alpha Conde and the UDFG led by former
   Prime  Minister  Diallo  are  deadlocked over who should head Guineaâs
   Independent  Electoral Commission that would organize the presidential
   run-off vote.

   The new head of the electoral commission will replace Ben Sekou Sylla,
   who died recently in a French hospital, where he was receiving medical
   treatment for an undisclosed illness.

   Military  ruler  General  Sekouba Konate has reportedly been unable to
   resolve  the  impasse so far despite repeated talks with the two rival
   parties.

   Adviser  Sylla  said  the  interim  leader needs outside assistance to
   resolve the stalemate.

   âHe  (Sekouba  Konate) is subject to a number of pressures from groups
   and  therefore  itâs  not  easy  for him to make the right decision. I
   think he needs some help,â Sylla said.

   None of the political parties garnered over 50 percent required to win
   the   27^th   June   first   round   presidential  election.  Guineaâs
   constitution  only allows the two leading candidates to participate in
   the run-off vote.

   The  electoral commission has so far proposed 10^th October as the new
   date  for  the run-off but, military ruler Konate is reportedly yet to
   officially receive the document from the electoral body.

   Adviser  Sylla  said  Guineans  are  tired  of  not  knowing  when the
   presidential election run-off will be held.

   âWe  need  the  international  community,  especially  ECOWAS  and the
   African  Union to act very quickly and help us get this process moving
   again and get it accelerated,â Sylla said.

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