Guinea / Political dialogue: What to expect?
The heads of state and government of ECOWAS have floated the idea of relocating the Guinean political dialogue to promote the participation of the main opponents.
The idea of relocating the Guinean political dialogue to a third country is not a first in Guinea’s political history. Exactly twelve years ago, Ouagadougou served as a framework for the settlement of a crisis between Guinean soldiers. After several days of negotiations in the Burkinabe capital, the head of the junta, Moussa Dadis Camara, and General Sékouba Konaté finally signed an agreement under the aegis of Blaise Compaoré. The text provided that Moussa Dadis Camara would “freely take time to convalesce” and that a presidential election would be held in “six months”.
The opposition, for its part, had been authorized to designate the Prime Minister of the transition, recalls the Guinean editorialist Nouhou Baldé. For him, the proposal made by ECOWAS to hold the dialogue outside Guinea, denotes the depth of the current crisis.
“Yes, it shows that there is a crisis and that the junta should remember that we can not bunker and succeed in a transition. In my opinion, we have a choice between taking actions that will lead to appeasement or at least accepting that the dialogue be relocated to allow Guineans who feel excluded to participate in the transition,” explained Nouhou Baldé.
But for Keamou Bogola, of the National Front for the Defence of the Transition, it is impossible to move all the actors involved in the dialogue abroad. For him, political leaders absent from the country for legal or political reasons are not banned from staying in Guinea.
“Our three compatriots are not banned from staying in Guinea – I mean Alpha Conde, Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sidya. Captain Dadis Camara was banned from Guinea not only by the international community but also by the Guinean authorities,” said Keamou Bogola.
In the meantime, the transitional authorities are trying to agree with a dozen political coalitions and civil society organisations. On the other hand, the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution, a powerful protest movement against the extension of the transition, denounces an iniquitous political dialogue. Will ECOWAS succeed in convincing the ruling military to relocate the dialogue? For the time being, the transitional government is asking political parties to observe a 24-month truce on all demonstrations.
Miss OLY
