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Military junta not in hurry to leave in Guinea, lists 10 prerequisites for handing over

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In response to the ultimatum given to it by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the military junta in Guinea has announced ten prerequisites for its handing over to a constitutional government.

The condition was listed among 10 other prerequisites amongst which:

“administrative census for civil status purposes”, the publication of” voter registration lists”, the “drafting of the new Constitution”, “organization of the referendum ballot”, “drafting of organic laws”, then, the “organizing local elections” followed by legislative elections, the “establishment of national institutions resulting from the new Constitution” and eventually “a presidential election”.

In December 2021, Leaders of the West African bloc ECOWAS called on Guinea’s military junta to provide a timetable for elections that would lead to a return to civilian rule. The bloc’s leaders issued a statement saying it remained “very concerned that three months after the coup d’etat, a timetable for the return of constitutional order is yet to be issued”.

Last September, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya led mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea to detain President Alpha Conde after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.

Doumbouya has been adamant and deaf to ECOWAS’s calls for a precise timetable for a civil government, he insists the timetable would be set by the National Transitional Council (CNT), an assembly that acts as a legislative body. Its 81 members were appointed in February.

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Zimbabwe’s electoral commission, ZEC promises to publicise voters’ register

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The electoral commission in Zimbabwe said it would soon publish the voters’ register for the forthcoming general elections.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) also assured the public of a fair election and promised to rectify anomalies that were observed during the voters’ inspection exercise.

The head of ZEC, Utloile Silaigwana made the position known when he announced the end of the mop-up voter registration exercise on Friday.

Silaigwana further revealed that the Nomination court would sit on 21 June and thereafter the voters’ roll would be accessible to candidates.

There are contentions about the neutrality of the electoral commission. In March, a member of the opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Allan Markham filed a court application challenging ZEC for access to the electronic voters’ roll but had his request rejected because “it was too risky” and in the interest of data protection.

Meanwhile, the ruling party, Zanu PF sent text messages to registered voters during the period urging them to vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa. This move further fuelled the allegation that Zanu PF had access to the voters’ roll which is why it was able to send the messages.

President Mnangagwa is running for re-election to a second term after coming to power following a military coup that dislodged Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s president in 2017.

The country is struggling with deep poverty, recurring power outages, and crippling unemployment, all of which have fuelled widespread resentment.

The President of Zimbabwe is elected using a two-round system. The Zimbabwean legislature is made up of 270 members of the National Assembly, 210 members elected in single-member constituencies, and 60 women elected by proportional representation in ten six-seat constituencies based on the country’s provinces.

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Guinea-Bissau holds parliamentary elections after year-long break

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Elections into the parliament of Guinea-Bissau have been held on Sunday after over a year since President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the House over accusations of corruption.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15 presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

The country’s parliament, known as the National People’s Assembly, is made up of 102 members who are chosen in two ways: 100 by closed-list proportional representation from 27 multi-member constituencies and two by single-member constituencies representing expatriate citizens in Africa and Europe.

The majority party or coalition appoints the government under the current political system, but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances. In the past, this has led to political gridlock and infighting.

The Prime Minister, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, while commenting on the strength of diversity of the country and the likely inclusive parliament that could follow the elections, noted that “there will be no winner with an absolute majority in these elections. It is impossible.”

“No party is ready to govern Guinea-Bissau alone, ” Nabiam said.

Guinea Bissau’s path to stability has been difficult, as it has been for many other countries in the West African sub-region. Since its independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has seen coups or attempted coups despite elections.

In February 2022, gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, attempting to stage a coup. The incident was later linked by the presidency to the country’s thriving drug trade.

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