On the first day of consultations in Guinea, Mamady Doumbouya makes an update

Published on : 09/15/2021 – 04:47

No progress on the content of a transition supposed to bring civilians back to the head of Guinea, but an update. The soldiers who took power in Guinea opened, Tuesday, September 14, four days of all-out consultations. The participants came out of the first sessions at the People’s Palace, seat of the dissolved Parliament in Conakry, without any details on the architecture or the duration of this transition.

“The only valid calendar is that of the Guinean people who have suffered so much,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, on national television, the only one authorized to film the meetings behind closed doors several hours before.

This intervention was especially the occasion for the head of the junta to make a clarification. He chastised the political class present for what he called the “mistakes of the past”, including the army in his reproaches.

>> To read: After the coup, Guineans expect change

“There are some among us in this room who were already ministers, prime ministers, senior executives, etc., even though most of the victims (of violence) in recent years were not even born yet,” he said. -it’s thundering. “We will not tolerate any calendar, no individual political agenda (…) We will not tolerate any individual or partisan political calculation.”

The junta will not accept either “any overflow, any disorder in the proceedings”, warned Mamady Doumbouya who expressed his desire for an “inclusive” approach.

“Inclusion” and “gathering” on the first day of the consultations

In a large room entirely surrounded by his hooded men, automatic weapon in hand, the commander of the special forces, seated on the platform in front of another row of soldiers, listened to the interventions of religious dignitaries, nodding his head and taking notes, without engaging in dialogue.

Men in civilian clothes kept tight surveillance on the audience and on any cellphones left on, despite instructions, to break the closed door.

“We are in a large flight (long-haul) plane piloted by Colonel Doumbouya, so he asked us as religious leaders, as fathers, as old men, what we think he (must) do for Guinea without derailing (…) We promised to go and consult us, Muslims and Christians “, to make proposals to the new authorities, said the Grand Imam of Conakry, Hadj Mamadou Saliou Camara, once out.

Several participants found Mr. Doumbouya “unifying” and attentive, but reported that he had not given any details on the coming transition.

“” Inclusion “, he insisted a lot on this word”, underlined the ex-Prime Minister Sidya Touré, one of the leaders of the opposition to the ex-president Alpha Condé. Mr. Touré spoke of a “beginning that can be accepted”.

“It was a first contact and it must be taken as such”, added a former minister of Mr. Condé, Papa Koly Kourouma, estimating that other meetings would be necessary to lead to “more consistent proposals”.

A crucial phase

After party leaders and religious leaders, civil society, foreign diplomats, bosses of mining companies and unions will follow one another with the putschists until Friday.

This crucial phase opens in complete uncertainty about the plans of the junta and its ability to overcome a multitude of major obstacles, whether it is the dilapidation of the political system, the multiplicity of particular interests, possible resentment. or a corruption reputed to be omnipresent.

Lieutenant-Colonel Doumbouya has so far said nothing about the possible content of this transition, its duration, what role the military would play in it, or how elections would be organized.

With AFP