Government postpones parliamentary elections

Guinea's parliamentary election, which had been scheduled for 27 December has been postponed, the government said on Thursday. The Minister of Territorial Administration Moussa Solano, who made the announcement, cited logistical and political reasons for the delay, a diplomatic source told IRIN on Friday.

The postponement would allow for a revision of voters lists and the setting-up of an election supervisory body, to be called the High Council for Electoral Affairs (Le Haut conseil des affaires electorales). It would also allow for further consultation with the opposition, in the hope that they [the opposition] could change an earlier decision to boycott the polls.

No new date has been set, but a source in the capital Conakry hailed the postponement as positive. "It is better that no new date has been set", the source said, adding that it would give time to the opposition and government to discuss longstanding differences. The postponement, the source added, would also augur well with donors.

Last week, the opposition announced it would boycott the polls. They cited lack of preparation, lack of dialogue with the authorities, and inadequate security as reasons for their decision.

On 11 November, the opposition boycotted a vote on a constitutional referendum claiming it was an attempt to keep President Lansana Conte in power 'indefinitely'. The government said 98 percent of the voters voted "yes" for the referendum, with a 87 percent turnout rate, but the opposition disagreed, saying voter turnout was around 20 percent.

The parliamentary elections had been postponed once before from June 2000, due to fighting on Guinea's border with Liberia and Sierra Leone.

French news agency AFP reported on Friday that this latest delay came four days before a European Union delegation was due in the country to discuss democracy and human rights.