In Guinea, the ruling junta suspends several major opposition parties for three months

Guinea's ruling junta has suspended three of the country's main political parties for "90 days," according to a decision seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, August 23. The parties affected by the suspension are the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) of former President Condé, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) of former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the Party for Renewal and Progress (PRP) of Rafiou Sow.

This decision by the Ministry of Territorial Administration was made public as the main parties and civil society organisations in this West African country called in mid-August for demonstrations starting on 5 September to denounce, according to them, a desire to seize power on the part of the head of the junta, General Mamadi Doumbouya.

The Guinean opposition is denouncing the holding of a referendum on a new constitution on September 21, called by General Doumbouya, who came to power in September 2021 after overthrowing civilian President Alpha Condé, who had been in power for more than 10 years. The start of the referendum campaign, initially scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed to August 31, according to a decree read Friday evening on public television.

The junta has banned all demonstrations since 2022, and has arrested, prosecuted, or forced into exile a number of opposition leaders. "These parties have not fulfilled the obligations prescribed to them (...) . They are expressly prohibited from holding demonstrations or any other act of political propaganda," the same source said.