Conakry – Guinea has renewed its suspension of one of the country’s main opposition parties less than two weeks before its presidential vote, which junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya is expected to win.
At the end of August, Guinean authorities suspended the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and several other parties for 90 days.
UFDG’s exiled head, Cellou Dalein Diallo, is additionally disqualified from running in the election under a new constitution adopted in September, which requires presidential candidates to have their primary residence in the country.
Guinea’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MATD) said in a statement dated Tuesday that documents the party had submitted were “carefully reviewed” and were found to have “substantial deficiencies”.
The party now faces “a strict deadline of six (6) months, starting November 25, 2025, to bring its political organization into full compliance with the new legal provisions” or face loss of its legal status.
Among the complaints MATD cited in extending the suspension was UFDG’s failure to hold a party congress since 2015.
However authorities earlier this year banned the UFDG from holding an extraordinary congress. The country’s Supreme Court later held up the ban.
Guinean authorities have not commented on the status of two other parties suspended in August.
The country’s opposition has called for a boycott of the election, in which voters will choose between nine candidates, including Doumbouya, who is running as an independent.
His rivals are mostly unknown to the general public, with the main opposition figures barred from running.
Doumbouya’s military-run government has banned all demonstrations since 2022, and has arrested, prosecuted or pushed into exile several opposition leaders.
Meanwhile reports of enforced disappearances and kidnappings have increased in recent years.
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Source: AFP
