In Guinea, Political Parties Commit to Pursue More Transparent Elections

Legislative elections are fast approaching in Guinea and political tensions are on the rise. The anticipated May 12 polls will mark the West African country’s first competitive legislative elections, and there is increasing mistrust and suspicion between ruling and opposition parties. In the past week, politically motivated riots have broken out in the capital, Conakry, leaving many people wounded and several dead.

To curb electoral violence and build trust among political party leaders and their supporters, NDI launched a political party pollwatching program on Feb. 20. The program aims to enhance confidence in the electoral process among political parties and the public and encourage peaceful acceptance of election results. NDI will provide technical assistance to existing political coalitions, which include the most nationally representative and largest ruling and opposition parties. Both coalitions plan to deploy NDI-trained pollwatchers in more than 6,000 of the county’s estimated 11,000 polling stations. The targeted polling sites were chosen after preliminary investigation on potential hotspots for irregularities or conflict.

NDI and Guinean party leaders hope that pollwatching by party delegates will deter fraud and irregularities, and allow parties to document irregularities and -- should they occur -- address them through peaceful, lawful means.

NDI has begun in-depth consultations with the party coalitions on ways to recruit and train nearly 20,000 pollwatchers. NDI will train master trainers on the principles of party pollwatching, non-violence, non-interference, and how to document and report fraud and other irregularities. Thereafter, the master trainers will train other trainers at the regional level, who in turn will train party members to serve as pollwatchers at the level of precincts and polling sites. More than 300 training sessions will be organized across Guinea before election day. Planning and training will be done with all participating party coalitions together when possible to foster greater trust and better inter-party relationships.

Chris Fomunyoh, NDI regional director for Central and West Africa, was in Conakry to launch the new party initiative. At a press conference with party leaders from across the political spectrum, Fomunyoh emphasized the need for transparent and credible elections. “It’s very encouraging that so many parties want to participate in a credible, transparent electoral process, and if we all work together toward that goal, Guinea will have reason to be proud.” He hoped that by emphasizing inclusivity, Guinean political parties will recruit women to serve as at least 30 percent of the pollwatchers, and to include young people.

Fomunyoh and NDI colleagues also met with President Alpha Condé and leaders of the main opposition parties, Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sidya Touré, who came in second and third, respectively, in the 2010 presidential election.

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Published March 15, 2013