Saturday, December 25, 2010

{Guinean news] Conde names new PM

Guinea's newly-installed president Alpha Conde has named Mohamed Said Fofana as his government's new prime minister. Fofana was formerly director of economic research in the country's commerce ministry.

On a related note, a couple of good articles on Guinea's democratic transition include Guinea: Tyranny to Democracy (Liberia's The Analyst) and Guinea's Election An Example to All (VOA).

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

[Guinean news] Alpha Conde inauguration (video)

The Guinean state television broadcaster RTG's news program offered coverage of Alpha Conde's swearing in as Guinea's first democratically elected president (courtesy of Guineenews).


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

[Guinean news] Alpha Conde inaugurated while Ivorian refugees flee into Guinea

Former political prisoner Alpha Conde was sworn in today as Guinea's first democratically elected president. He took the oath of office at Conakry's Palais du peuple in front of numerous heads of state, including the presidents of South Africa and Liberia.

The country's outgoing military leader Gen. Sekouba Konate described the inauguration as an 'act of rebirth' for the country.

Agence France Presse noted that the ceremony included a minute's silence in memory of the 157 opposition supporters massacred by forces loyal to former junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara at a stadium in the capital in September 2009, a tragedy widely seen as the real beginning of Guinea's democratization process.

Guinea's election was accepted peacefully, if grudgingly, by the losing candidates. However, the same can not be said of neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, where an election controversy has provoked fears of another civil war in the country. Such tension has provoked over 200 Ivorian refugees so far to flee to Guinea, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Monday, December 13, 2010

[Guinean news] Dadis to attend Conde investiture?

The Guineenews weekly press review discusses media speculation that deposed junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara may attend the swearing in of the new president Prof. Alpha Conde. Dadis has not been seen in public since being wounded in an assassination attempt in Dec. 2009.

Also, the Guinean government has lifted the state of emergency and re-opened the country's borders; both measures had been imposed to ease post-electoral violence.

Friday, December 03, 2010

[Guinean news] Condé declared winner by court; Diallo accepts defeat

RPG leader Alpha Condé has been officially declared winner of the Guinean presidential election by the country's Supreme Court.

Crucially, UFGD leader Cellou Dalein Diallo accepted the Court's decision, although he did contend that they didn't take his complaints into account.