Guinea junta leader Mamady Doumbouya has been cleared by the Supreme Court to run for president in next month’s presidential election.
Doumbouya and eight other candidates were approved to run according to a list published by the court.
Even though Doumbouya vowed not to run when he seized power in 2021 a new constitution approved in a referendum in September allowed him to put forward his candidacy.
With his candidature approved now, Doumbouya could stay in power for another five years although he is running as an independent candidate.
He is competing against relatively low-profile candidates such as Abdoulaye Yero Balde, former minister of higher education and deputy governor of the central bank, and Faya Millimono, an opposition leader critical of the junta.
Lansana Kouyate, a former prime minister whose candidacy was not accepted, plans to appeal, his party said on Facebook.
Two strong potential challengers, a former President Alpha Conde and former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, are all ineligible because of age and residency rules in the new constitution.
Doumbouya’s government in 2022 proposed a two-year transition to elections after negotiating with regional bloc ECOWAS, but it missed that deadline.
The election scheduled for December 28 is intended to cap a formal transition to civilian rule.
Source: Africafeeds.com
