European Union observers gave Guinea’s presidential elections a clean bill of health on Tuesday despite protests by opposition supporters who accuse President Alpha Conde of rigging the vote to win a second term.
Reuters
The EU observer team said that logistical problems including lack of voting materials and the late opening of polling stations did not mar the overall outcome of Sunday’s ballot in Guinea, which is Africa’s largest bauxite producer.
Early results announced by radio stations showed Conde with a sizeable lead. Official figures are not expected until the end of the week. Opposition leaders on Monday rejected the results and called for the ballot to be reorganised.
After nightfall, residents in outlying neighbourhoods of Conakry, the coastal capital, reported hearing gunfire following clashes between security forces and opposition supporters.
“There is shooting here,” said Fatoumata Bah, a resident of the Simbayah district. “I don’t know how we will get any sleep.”
In the Koloma neighbourhood, resident Souleymane Timbi Bah also reported shots after police pursued opposition demonstrators into the warren-link back streets. He said it was not clear who was shooting.
Police had earlier used tear gas and baton charges to disperse dozens of young opposition supporters who had burned tires and erected barricades in the street.
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The head of the EU observer mission, Frank Engels, said nearly two-thirds of polls opened late on Sunday because of insufficient materials and some did not receive voting booths at all, but representatives of the political parties were in most locations and counts were mostly transparent.
