The President of Guinea, Alpha Condé, is billed to contest the October 18 presidential election.
Alpha Condé has been the President of the West African country since 2010 making him the second West African leader to say term limits don’t apply when there is a new constitution in place.
President Conde’s party, the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée, made the announcement on national television.
Party faithful and the president’s supporters said on Monday that they would back his candidacy, despite serving for two terms.
Already tens of thousands have taken to the streets in Guinea to oppose another term for Alpha Conde.
On his part, RFI quoted Conde as saying: ” if you want me to accept your proposal, you must commit to ensuring that the RPG, our party, becomes again what it was before, a party that leaves no one behind.”
Recall that in another West African country, Mali, the military had ousted its President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a coup.
He served as prime minister and president from 1994 till 2020.
He was eventually released after pressure was mounted on the military junta by the Economic Community of West African States.
Last month, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara made a similar announcement, saying his first two terms did not count toward term limits since the country had adopted a new constitution.
His decision to run again in the Oct. 31 vote has sparked fears of electoral unrest given Ivory Coast’s past, more than 3,000 people were killed in the aftermath of the 2010 vote.
🇬🇳 #Guinee Le président Alpha #Condé sera candidat à un 3e mandat lors du scrutin prévu le 18 octobre.
►La perspective d'une nouvelle candidature avait soulevé une vague de protestations qui a fait des dizaines de morts depuis octobre 2019.
🎧 Précisions Mouctar Bah #RFIMatin 👇 pic.twitter.com/INZ7RQKYjR— RFI (@RFI) September 1, 2020
