2020 Guinean presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 18 October 2020. Incumbent president Alpha Condé was running for a third term.[1][2] He was challenged by former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo,[3] as well as several other candidates.

2020 Guinean presidential election

18 October 2020

Nominee Alpha Condé Cellou Dalein Diallo Party RPG UFDG Popular vote 2,438,815 1,372,920 Percentage 59.50% 33.49%

President before election Alpha Condé RPG Elected President Alpha Condé RPG

Background

The Guinean constitution limits a president to two terms. However, changes in the new constitution passed in the controversial constitutional referendum earlier in the year included resetting the presidential terms allowing incumbent president Alpha Condé to run for a third term.[4] Both the referendum and the legislative election being run alongside it was boycotted by most of the opposition, and was marred by protests.[5][6]

Former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo who ran against Condé and placed second in the previous two presidential elections ran again after first considering boycotting the vote, and was seen as the main challenger. Protests against the incumbent president have continued throughout the year. The protests have been harshly repressed by security forces claiming a number of civilian lives.[3][7]

Electoral system

The elections were held using the two-round system, with a second round taking place between the top two finishers on 24 November 2020 if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round.[8]

Preliminary results

Preliminary estimates were reported to indicate that Diallo was in the lead.[9] On 19 October, Diallo declared himself the winner of the election despite the official results not being known yet, based on polling information gathered by his party. The incumbent president condemned this declaration as "irresponsible and dangerous." The electoral commission expected the official results to be released by the end of the week.[10] With 96.14% of the results counted, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared incumbent president Alpha Condé the winner in the first round with 59.49% of the vote on 24 October.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Alpha Condé	Rally of the Guinean People	2,438,815	59.49
	Cellou Dalein Diallo	Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea	1,373,320	33.50
	Ibrahima Abé Sylla	New Generation for the Republic	63,676	1.55
	Ousmane Kaba	Party of Democrats for Hope	48,623	1.19
	Ousmane Doré	National Movement for Development	46,235	1.13
	Makalé Camara	Front for National Alliance	29,958	0.73
	Makalé Traoré	Party of Civic Action for Work	29,589	0.72
	Abdoul Kabèlè Camara	Guinean Rally for Development	22,507	0.55
	Abdoulaye Kourouma	Rally for Renaissance and Development	19,073	0.47
	Mandiouf Moro Sidibé	Alliance for the Forces of Change	10,362	0.25
	Laye Souleymane Diallo	Party of Freedom and Progress	9,619	0.23
	Bouya Konaté	Union for the Defence of Republican Interests	7,544	0.18
Total			4,099,321	100.00
Valid votes			4,099,321	96.06
Invalid/blank votes			168,273	3.94
Total votes			4,267,594	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			5,410,089	78.88
Source: CENI Guinea

References

1. "For Malick Sankhon, "Alpha Condé will be a candidate in 2020"". Guinée Time. 18 January 2020. (in French)
2. "Presidential election in Guinea: the Ceni proposes the date of October 18, 2020". RFI. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020. (in French)
3. "Cellou Dalein Diallo ne boycotte pas la présidentielle en Guinée". BBC News Afrique (in French). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
4. "Guinea voters back controversial constitution changes". Al Jazeera. 27 March 2020.
5. "Guinea elections: The 82-year-old seeking six more years". BBC News. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
6. Mohamed, Hamza. "Guinea to hold contested polls boycotted by opposition". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
7. Asala, Kizzi (8 August 2020). "Ousmane Kaba Declares His Run as Guinean Presidential Candidate". Africanews. AP. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
8. Republic of Guinea IFES
9. "Presidential election in Guinea: troubling signs for Alpha Condé after the first round | Africa Times". africatimes.com. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
10. Diallo, Boubacar; Larson, Krista (19 October 2020). "Guinea's opposition leader claims election victory". AP NEWS. Retrieved 20 October 2020.